U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Thinks Locally

At one stop, Eikenberry sat down for a private briefing by the U.S. commander of the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, one of a dozen small coalition units across the country that support development projects and monitor local problems. The general demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the major political figures and recent events in this obscure but strategically located province.

He talked in detail with U.S. and Afghan officials about a variety of problems, including corruption among local authorities, the recent unsolved assassination of a district administrator and the periodic bomb attacks against schools, military facilities and other targets.

In the main bazaar, Eikenberry strode casually along the street, towering over throngs of young boys. He stopped to chat with surprised vegetable sellers, and then climbed up a rickety set of stairs to a tiny doctor's office, where he politely asked whether there were any female physicians in the capital. The answer was four.

Many Laghmanis say the most important step the government could take is to build a paved road so that farmers could bring crops and livestock to the country's main east-west highway, about 15 miles south of here.

Eikenberry repeatedly asked people about the road, and he suggested he might be able to use U.S. military funds to help build it.

In his speech to the Afghan audience, he described the U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces, which will take over foreign military leadership here this summer, as "partners" in bringing better security, justice and development to the country.

In an interview in Kabul after the tour, Eikenberry did not seem fazed by the growing number of attacks in the past year after several years of relative calm. He emphasized progress in government and institution-building since 2001 and a need for the United States to shift away from a military role as Afghans become better able to govern and defend themselves.

He declined to comment on relations between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Its government is a strong U.S. ally, but many Afghan and U.S. officials view its rugged tribal region along the border as a haven for Taliban and other insurgent forces. Many intelligence analysts have expressed belief that bin Laden and senior Taliban leaders are hiding there.

"In the end, Osama bin Laden is just one man," Eikenberry said in the interview. He vowed that U.S. military efforts would be "unrelenting" until the al-Qaeda leader is captured or killed, but he reiterated his conviction that the key to fighting terrorism is bolstering the reach, relevance and writ of the Afghan government.

"This is a real long campaign, and we are on the 50-yard line," he told Marines who protect the reconstruction base after pinning medals for valor and service on a number of them. "The Afghan army is getting stronger, the police are making progress," he said. "The real battle now is to enable the Afghan people to stand up their own society."