TROOPS SEE SECURITY GAINS

WASHINGTON — Only two months ago, Col. Willard Burleson might have dodged bullets if he ventured into the area north of Kunduz, Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, he stopped in for rice and a cup of tea.

"Two months ago, I could not have gone there without fighting every inch of the way," said Col. Burleson, commander of the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, in a briefing from Afghanistan with Pentagon reporters.

To walk down the street, as he did, and stop into a cafe with village elders "would have been unconscionable a month or two ago," Col. Burleson said.

Col. Burleson's casual visit illustrates the security gains he and others say that U.S. forces, along with allies and Afghan security teams, have made in a country that has at times appeared at risk of falling back into the hands of the Taliban. While the gains are not irreversible, the unit commander said, the contrast in some parts of the country could hardly be sharper from what he and his soldiers found when they arrived from Fort Drum 11 months ago.

Roads to larger cities, once too dangerous to travel, are open and relatively safe, he said. Cell phone service has returned around the clock in Kunduz, after being limited throughout the day, he said.

And aircraft pilots no longer find their planes poked with holes from enemy fire, as they once did on almost one of every five flights, said Col. Daniel Williams, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's combat aviation brigade.

The gains reflect the "surge" in U.S. forces pursued by the Obama administration, echoing a similar approach in the Iraq war under the same commanding general, Gen. David H. Petraeus.

Lawmakers who recently returned from Afghanistan voiced similar optimism Tuesday.

Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that during a visit with other members of the committee, he saw a "huge improvement" in the Afghan police over a year ago. In Marja province, he said, the Taliban are "totally gone" and stores are open.

"Everywhere we went, things were very upbeat, and I feel much better about the situation," Mr. McKeon said.

Still, Col. Burleson and Col. Williams acknowledged that some of the relative tranquility is due to the winter. April is "fighting season," Col. Burleson said, and U.S. forces anticipate the usual uptick in violence. Twelve members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team have died in Afghanistan.

"Although these are great security gains, they have not fully solidified," Col. Burleson said.

His soldiers are training Afghan security forces and working side by side with Afghan border police. They have cleared "countless" improvised explosive devices, he said.

Whether those gains help clear the way for U.S. forces withdrawals this summer remains to be seen, although that is the Obama administration's goal. Mr. McKeon and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who joined him, emphasized the 2014 target date for complete withdrawal, which Mr. Kline said is "more helpful" and indicates that U.S. forces are "not going to be rushing toward the door."