Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan (CNN) -- As Presidents Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai parry over troop levels and assistance, "retrograde" is the operant word I am hearing from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan. A nuanced military term for withdrawal, retrograde defines operations in this insurgency-plagued land. After more than a decade of U.S.-led warfare, American commanders are now insisting their Afghan counterparts take over the fight. The 101st Airborne Division's Rakkasan Brigade is the battle-space owner of eastern Afghanistan's restive Khost and Paktia provinces, both of which border Pakistan's anarchic tribal regions. In the brigade headquarters at Forward Operating Base Salerno -- a building hardened against rocket and mortar attack -- Rakkasan Deputy Commander Col. Tim Sullivan told me, "Our mission was to go from a partnered role with the ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) to an advise and assist role. We kind of gave it the 'tough love' approach."
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Front-line U.S. soldiers stepping back, forcing Afghans to step up
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Wissing: "Shoulder-to-shoulder" policy with Afghan troops is now an "after you" policy
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Some Afghans don't believe that U.S. will leave or that Afghans are ready to take their place
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But U.S. troops are already dismantling some bases
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Sullivan talked of turning down a cosseted @placeholder commander who demanded helicopter transport to one of his bases.
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@placeholder anti-IED teams traveled north to blow up the watchtowers.
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As @placeholder administration representatives float the big round trial balloon of zero troops in Afghanistan, soldiers here talk about the spring 2013 drawdown of 20% of the remaining 66,000 US troops, with another 50% to be gone soon after.
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As Obama administration representatives float the big round trial balloon of zero troops in Afghanistan, soldiers here talk about the spring 2013 drawdown of 20% of the remaining 66,000 @placeholder troops, with another 50% to be gone soon after.
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They simply can't imagine a country rich enough, or foolish enough, to just walk away from the enormous investment poured into these bases, many just built during the boom that accompanied @placeholder's troop surge.
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One U.S. commander in southern Afghanistan told me about his Afghan counterpart flaring up when he learned @placeholder support was being quickly scaled back.