Led by Lt. Col. Don Bolduc, TF [Task Force] 31 arrived at the [Kandahar] airfield in June for its third six- to nine-month tour in the Taliban's southern Afghanistan heartland in a little over three years. The Desert Eagles, as they are known, found numerous improvements had been made to the region's infrastructure and democratic systems in the year that the battalion had been gone. But TF 31's soldiers also found much to worry them.

"Among the most troubling changes was the state of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan," states an unclassified TF 31 "memorandum for record" dated Oct. 7 and provided to AFJ. "Exploiting the misconception that the insurgency was over, the enemy ... had expertly managed to reorganize, refit and prepare to conduct a more focused campaign against Afghan National Security Forces. Coalition forces, though more far reaching than 12 months earlier and occupying three additional fire bases in the most remote areas of southern Afghanistan, had limited themselves to locally focused operations, allowing the enemy to remain out of reach and unmolested for nearly six months."

As a result, the Taliban forces have emerged stronger than at any time since a combined U.S.-Northern Alliance force drove them from power in late 2001. Conventional and Special Forces officers say the Taliban has a functioning chain of command that stretches from senior leaders in Pakistan down to foot soldiers in the provinces. (my emphasis)