Interview: The Taliban's 'Last Chance'; NATO's top commander in Afghanistan is optimistic.(David Richards)(Interview)(Excerpt)

Byline: Emily Flynn Vencat

NATO has a war on its hands in Afghanistan. Beginning on July 31, it will take control of the U.S.-led Coalition in the increasingly violent south, where six British soldiers were killed last month. British Lt. Gen. David Richards, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, spoke with NEWSWEEK's Emily Flynn Vencat in London last week. Excerpts:

Fynn Vencat: Have the scope and ferocity of the Taliban resurgence caught you by surprise?

Richards: We knew from the outset that this was going to be a combat operation, and prepared accordingly. There are more Apache attack helicopters in the south today than there were under the U.S. Coalition. The Taliban recognize that 2006 is a crunch year. If they don't succeed this year, then their chance of success, with 36 nations joining forces with the government, [grows slim]. This year is their last chance.

Is it realistic that NATO forces will be able to provide enough security in the southern provinces to get real economic-development projects going?

First of all, I would say that there's been more happening than your question has intimated. Because the U.S. was successfully concentrating on the counter-Taliban operation in the east, the south was relatively ignored. There was effort there, but there were only about 150 people, say, in Helmand. You can only do so much with 150 people. With the British presence in Helmand at around 4,000 [at the end of this month] and with other nations contributing to that presence, that's bound to enable us to ...