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 BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) - Responding to complaints by Afghanistan's president, a top U.S. general said Thursday that airstrikes have been decisive against insurgents and that American troops usually search homes jointly with Afghan soldiers.
Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S.-led coalition's operational commander, said American forces need air power as they expect to be battling Taliban rebels well into next year after fierce fighting that killed more than 1,200 people in the six months before Sunday's election.
President Bush expressed similar sentiments in Washington, saying the 18,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have not finished the mission that began with the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. "There are still terrorists who seek to overthrow the young government," he said.
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