Military Strategy

U.S. military leaders have concluded that their war effort in Afghanistan has been too focused on hunting Al Qaeda, and have begun to shift Predator drone aircraft to the fight against the Taliban and other militants in order to prevent the country from slipping deeper into anarchy. The move, described by government and Defense Department officials, represents a major change in the military's use of one of its most precious intelligence assets.

Soon after Barack Obama is sworn in as president, he will face a crucial decision about the future of the war in Afghanistan: what to do with thousands of new U.S. troops that will flow into the country over the course of the year. Within the Pentagon, a vigorous debate has emerged about what the top priority should be for those forces.

Far from the prestigious windowed offices on the outer ring of the Pentagon, a new war room focusing entirely on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan sits deep inside a cavernous basement. Created by Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell is intended to bring together the Pentagon's top strategy and intelligence experts. The cell is also a visible symbol of how much the related conflicts have become Mullen's war.

President Obama said after meeting with top U.S. military leaders Wednesday that targeting extremists would be a top priority for the armed forces in Afghanistan. Obama met for nearly two hours with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the secure Pentagon conference room known as Tank. He emerged to shake hands with troops and promised to increase the involvement of civilian U.S. government agencies to work on governance, agriculture, civil justice and other issues in Afghanistan.

U.S. commanders have begun shifting the mission of military forces in Iraq by moving more American troops out of front-line combat and into assignments that allow soldiers to monitor and support Iraqi units, senior military leaders said Thursday. In their changing capacity, U.S. troops increasingly will be positioned to back up Iraqi forces in a role that commanders outlined in recommendations in September and have termed "overwatch." Under the recommendations, the overall U.S.

If Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had his way, the protracted presidential nomination battles underway in the Republican and Democratic parties would end sooner rather than later. "Once somebody contemplates the prospect that they may be president of the United States, they're going to begin thinking about what they're going to inherit," Gates said in an interview. "And I think it will be, regardless of party, a sobering realization."

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that no decision had been made to stop the withdrawal of troops in Iraq this summer, a subtle rebuke of the top U.S. commander there, who suggested that reductions would pause after the current round of cuts was completed in July. The comments underscore the divergent views among top Defense Department officials over the long-term troop commitment to Iraq.

As the most powerful Afghan official in the troubled southern province of Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai says he knows just how to tame the shadowy Taliban campaign of suicide bombs and assassinations that have raised the specter of a country sliding toward anarchy. He wants more American soldiers on the ground.

As their craft glides at high speed over the chilly waters behind the massive Haditha Dam, the U.S. sailors aboard Riverine Patrol Boat 13 spot a slow-moving rowboat that seems out of place. Navy Lt. Jeffrey Werby cannot immediately be sure whether the rowboat spells danger. "They could be just scrawny guys trying to make a living or fishing," says Werby, officer in charge of a four-boat squad based at the dam. "Or they could be something."

Taking note of the debate over the Iraq war in the presidential race, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Pentagon officials in a town hall meeting Thursday that the military must be prepared to change policy and carry out the wishes of the next president. But at a news conference afterward, Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen cautioned against policies that include a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, saying leaving too quickly would undermine recent security gains.