Fifth in a series of reports from Afghanistan

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Some commanders call it a “tactical pause” to give time for additional U.S. and allied troops to surge into the country. Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the operational commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, calls it “repositioning.” Others say the reduced “optempo” is just part of a “realignment” necessary to prepare for a major offensive in Kandahar this June. The troops use a different term of art.

Recommended Stories

Once an afterthought, Mississippi creeps onto the Senate battlefield

Democrats stand athwart progress, yelling, ‘Stop’

HBO’s ‘War,’ with Dominic West, is a clever legal drama