US plans to ‘change strategy’ in Afghan war

THE situation in Afghanistan is grave, but victory can be won with a change in strategy, the commander of Western forces in the country said yesterday, announcing the end of a long-awaited review.

Officials gave no indication in public as to whether US army general Stanley McChrystal, who commands more than 100,000 US and NATO troops, would ask for still morereinforcements to carry out his new strategy.

The review is expected to spell out a revised approach to conducting the eight-year-old war, which Barack Obama considers the foreign policy priority of his US presidency.