Kabul
After nine months of British leadership, NATO troops in Afghanistan are back under U.S. command. Gen. Dan McNeill is expected to push a more aggressive approach than his predecessor, British Gen. David Richards, who favored brokering cease-fire deals with village elders. Last week, one of those deals collapsed when the Taliban overran a key village. The appointment of McNeill, one of only 11 four-star generals in the Army, comes as U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan have reached their highest point. Some 26,000 U.S. troops are now there, up from 9,500 in 2002, a year after the Taliban was toppled.
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