Petraeus Reports for Duty against Strong Taliban
Gen. David Petraeus reported for duty Friday as the new commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan.
Petraeus, who wrote the U.S. Army manual on how to wage a counterinsurgency, takes charge at a critical time. June was the deadliest month of the war. Sixty Americans were killed, and in nine years of fighting there have been nearly 1,100 American deaths.
CBS News Correspondent Mandy Clark reports from Kabul that Petraeus has to break down the Taliban's power, and he also has to bring them to the negotiating table.
The Taliban right now is seen to have the upper hand, Clark reports. They have many strongholds in Afghanistan. Petraeus has to break those down to make sure the Taliban don't have a safe haven, so when they come to the negotiating table, they're in a position of weakness, not in a position of strength.
A recent patrol Clark was on came under attack in an ambush. A burst of gunfire forced the platoon to go down. The rules of engagement make it difficult to respond. Soldiers can only fire back once they have a clear visual on who's firing at them, and so often they got shot at and can't shoot back.