The U.S. pullout from Korengal Valley has been completed, after five years of combat with the Taliban there. The withdrawal from the valley in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province — which also attracted transnational jihadists — appears to have been made possible in part by recent Pakistani military successes in neighboring Bajaur. The shift fits with the U.S. strategy of concentrating forces in Afghanistan's more populous regions, although Gen. Stanley McChrystal's public explanation was that the Americans had been shown to be "an irritant to the people" of the area. The troops' departure was announced the same day that McChrystal ordered for a further review of rules of engagement for coalition forces in Afghanistan, seeking to curtail civilian deaths and support the existing "hearts and minds" strategy.
