Forward Operating Base Salerno, Khost Province, Afghanistan
AS PRESIDENTS OBAMA AND KARZAI PARRY over troop levels and assistance, “retrograde” is the operant word I am hearing from US commanders in Afghanistan. A nuanced military term for withdrawal, retrograde defines operations in this insurgency-plagued land. After more than a decade of US-led warfare, American commanders are now insisting their Afghan counterparts take over the fight. One seasoned commander termed it “tough love.”