Take Me To Post Comment Form The war in Afghanistan for nine years is at a critical stage, said Sunday in Kabul, General David Petraeus officially taking the head of the 150,000 foreign troops under NATO command.
"We are engaged in a difficult conflict. After years of war, we are at a critical time," he told guests at the ceremony at the headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
"We all recognize the threat that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremists pose to this country, this region and the world," he said. We're here to win. "
Petraeus replaces the head of the Allied General Stanley McChrystal, relieved of his command by President Barack Obama for criticizing the government.
The handover comes as the Taliban are most strongly since their expulsion from Kabul in late 2001 and where ISAF sees its losses increase by the day.
In camouflage, Petraeus said that his appointment marked a change of command but does not change the strategy in place.
Although losses last month were the heaviest of the ISAF, he said that it was gaining ground in a conflict increasingly difficult and a decline was expected insurgents to the approach of an Allied offensive against Taliban strongholds in the South.

63 INSURGENTS KILLED IN TWO DAYS IN THE SOUTH
"Nothing is simple in Afghanistan, he said. But we can be encouraged by the progress that has been made in security. We must demonstrate to the Afghan people and the world that Al Qaeda and its extremist allies do will install more strongholds in Afghanistan. "
The new Afghan interior minister, Besmillah Mohammadi, said after taking command of Petraeus as U.S. soldiers and Afghan police killed 63 Taliban militants during an operation 48 hours in the southern province of Helmand .
The operation took place in the district and we are Desho seized more than sixteen tons of drugs, said his department. The Taliban have so far not commented on this information.
Petraeus arrived Friday in Kabul, the day after his confirmation in his new position by the Senate and a few hours after the approval in the House of Representatives, funding $ 33 billion to send 30,000 U.S. troops as reinforcements in the country.
These reinforcements will bring to 150,000 men foreign troop in Afghanistan. Petraeus's strategy focuses on operations against the Taliban in their strongholds while promoting progress in governance and development in the country.
"We must demonstrate to the Afghan people and the world that Al Qaeda and its extremist allies network will no longer be able to create sanctuaries in Afghanistan," Petraeus said in calling for a close union of international forces and government Kabul.
The appointment of Petraeus may be, from Washington, a last throw of the dice to end a conflict increasingly expensive burden on the budget Western as they struggle to emerge from a global recession.
The new commander of allied forces must not only defeat the insurgency but also to prepare an early withdrawal of U.S. forces beginning in July 2011.
Nearly 1,900 foreign soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2001, including a hundred for the month of June
The German General Egon Ramms, head of ISAF operations, praised the action of McChrystal noting that Petraeus was "the first choice of the ISAF" in light of its experience in the fight against insurgency .