Meanwhile, back at the front

Sig Christenson's on the ground in Afghanistan report is a must-read. This isn't combat action - it's an account of a meeting between Admiral Mullen and local Afghan leaders in Kandahar.

Read the whole thing - but these four paragraphs pretty much nail down the key issues in Afghanistan:

They didn't have kind words for the mayor -- an outsider hired by the Kabul government of Hamid Karzai to run the town -- or for the way aid has been funneled through provincial government officials they see as corrupt and out of touch with the people.

Concern was raised over civilian casualties at the hands of coalition forces.

They had great antipathy for Pakistan, which another elder claimed has but one interest in Afghanistan -- making it a new province.

Perhaps worst of all were doubts the elders have about America. The first elder, citing talks with elders in other districts, said: "You foreigners have provided a lot of assistance, you've been very helpful, and we're hearing that your departure is imminent, and that worries us."

"Let me just speak to that," Mullen replied. "I want to make sure that one of my messages is that we're not (leaving), and that we are very focused on the long-term partnership of Afghanistan.

The astute reader will note there's a fifth paragraph in the excerpt - Admiral Mullen's response to the final point. Until it can be resolved - if it can be resolved - the others are insignificant. (Note: DoD account of the meeting here.)

Back in Washington, the Obama administration launched a weekend news show blitz, with Secretary Gates taking the point on that question:

"I think we need to reemphasize the message that we are not leaving Afghanistan in July of 2011. We are beginning a transition process," Gates said on the ABC News program "This Week."

"Drawdowns early on will be of fairly limited numbers," he said. "It will depend on the conditions on the ground."

"Nobody thinks that Afghanistan is gonna be a model Jeffersonian democracy," Mr. Obama said. "What we're looking to do is difficult, very difficult, but it's a fairly modest goal, which is, don't allow terrorists to operate from this region; don't allow them to create big training camps and to plan attacks against the U.S. homeland with impunity.

"That can be accomplished," he said. "We can stabilize Afghanistan sufficiently and we can get enough cooperation from Pakistan that we are not magnifying the threat against the homeland."

"Jeffersonian democracy" was echoed by Biden - who expanded the concept on NBC's Today Show: "We are not there to nation-build. We're not out there deciding we're going to turn this into a Jeffersonian democracy and build that country. We've made it clear, we're not there for 10 years."

(For more on the term, see here.) The "not there for 10 years" quote is a change from earlier efforts by the Vice President:

"Let me tell you what I'm happy with... You're going to see [troop numbers] coming down as rapidly over the next two years..."

...but as yet no comments from the White House indicate any sort of "firm resolve" on Afghanistan.

Elsewhere:

Asked on This Week whether the drawdown of forces will be limited to a few thousand troops, Pelosi said: "Well, I hope it is more than that. I know it's not going to be, 'Turn out the lights, and let's all go home on one day.' But I do think the American people expect it to be somewhere between that and a - a few thousand troops."

In contrast, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on CNN's State of the Union that he could envision a scenario in which more troops would be needed in the country.

"If we get the enemy on the run, and they are having safe havens - let's say down in Kandahar, that's really where the center of gravity is - there is a lot of open terrain down there," said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "And if we begin to clear the city, and our intelligence says they are going out in the hinterlands and they are regrouping, we may need more troops to keep them on the run."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that conservative critics could undermine the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan...

Graham warned that liberal and conservative war critics could form "an unholy alliance," during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

Graham's across-the-aisle Senate colleague Harry Levin put much of the blame for public dissatisfaction with Afghanistan on the media:

Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, said on CNN's "State of the Union" the dropping support for the war can be traced to the spreading public dissatisfaction.

"What I see is a mixed picture with some signs of progress," said Levin. "What gets out is the negative picture, and almost exclusively, actually there [are] some positive indicators, too."

Somewhere, Donald Rumsfeld smiles.

Meanwhile, back at the front - ISAF says success: "Afghan and Coalition Forces Tallies Another Successful Month in Afghanistan."

July marked a total of more than 330 suspected insurgents detained and more than 60 insurgents killed in security force operations. More importantly, several Haqqani Network and more than 30 Taliban leaders were captured or killed. These leadership figures include shadow governors, commanders, sub-commanders and weapons facilitators.

"The insurgent groups are feeling the increased pressure. July was an extremely successful month for Afghan and coalition forces in which 87 percent were conducted without a single shot fired," said Col. Rafael Torres, ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Center director. The month of July began with a security operation that resulted in the death of more than 20 Taliban fighters and the capture of the Taliban district chief in Baghran district in Helmand province. The operation totaled four hours, yet no Afghan civilian, Afghan National Security Force or coalition troops were killed or wounded.

Apparently the old "we don't do body counts" notion is another victim of change.

But on that topic, while much of the Afghanistan coverage and commentary over the weekend can be attributed to the Wikileaks story, the news that July was the deadliest month for Americans there has also prompted increased attention in Washington.

U.S. troops now account for about two-thirds of the NATO force in Afghanistan, and Americans make up more than two-thirds of July's Western military fatalities...

At least 66 U.S. service members were killed, surpassing what had been a record 60 American fatalities in the previous month.

Some of those percentages will be going up: "...the Dutch mission in Afghanistan formally ended Sunday, though it will take some days for troops to complete their departure. About 1,600 troops from the Netherlands were deployed in Oruzgan province, with a presence of several hundred more elsewhere in the country."

For some good news - "The Kabul police have cleared a United States Embassy vehicle of fault for a deadly collision on Friday..." - but there's more to the story:

The Kabul police have cleared a United States Embassy vehicle of fault for a deadly collision on Friday that set off anti-American rioting near the embassy, a senior police official said Sunday.

After the crash, hundreds of enraged onlookers threw rocks, chanted "Death to America" and set ablaze two American vehicles.

Kabul police announced only one fatality from the collision, with three injured, two seriously. Three contractors involved in the crash were reported wounded in the subsequent rioting, along with four Afghans (including two policemen).

But for real carnage, nothing beats a well-placed IED:

A minibus full of civilians struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, and Afghan officials said six of those on board were killed...

No riots were reported.

Elsewhere:

Afghan and coalition members from the Combined Air Power Transition Force teamed up Wednesday and Thursday to rescue more than 2,000 Afghan citizens from flooding in the Nangahar and Kunar provinces.

(That last bit's for you, Senator Levin.)