Q & A: Lieut. General David Richards

On July 31 NATO will take control of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan's volatile south, where six British soldiers were killed in the last month. The NATO commander, Lieut. General David Richards, spoke with TIME's Aryn Baker about his new job.

The fighting in the south is the worst in five years. Are you ready for it?
We knew right from the outset that this was a combat operation. The troop-contributing nations are absolutely trained at the tactical level for what we are about to do. When troops are first confronted by a real enemy, they take...

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