McCain: Shift focus to south in Afghanistan War

Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the situation in Afghanistan will get more difficult before it gets easier –  “just like the surge in Iraq was” – as the U.S. prepares to pour thousands more troops into the country, including on the doorsteps of Kabul.

The former Republican presidential candidate visited the southern province of Helmand, where he said NATO forces are at a stalemate with insurgents. Though Helmand has for years been the responsibility of British forces, McCain said the U.S. will focus more on the region – the heartland of the Taliban movement and a center for opium poppy production.

Violence has also spiked across the border in Pakistan, where gunmen blasted their way into two transport terminals on Sunday and torched more than 160 vehicles destined for U.S. and Afghan National Army troops.

McCain said it was clear there has been progress in the eastern part of Afghanistan, the region where most U.S. forces are stationed, but that Afghanistan’s south deserves more attention