Suspicion, terrain are foes for US in Afghan surge

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - As violence in Afghanistan escalates, the U.S. is responding by scrambling to get in more troops. But it's far from clear how the strategy will work in a vast, rugged land where hiding places are many and suspicion of foreign forces is deep. Both U.S. presidential candidates have proposed sending more troops to fight the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where more foreign soldiers have died than in Iraq the past two months. Democrat candidate Barack Obama, whose visit to Afghanistan over the weekend underscored its growing importance, wants to move about 7,000 U.S. soldiers here from Iraq. His Republican opponent, John McCain, has not specified how many extra troops he would send. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested an acceleration in plans to shift U.S. forces to Afghanistan next year... [read full story]