By ANNE GEARAN
AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON – In the make-or-break struggle for Kandahar, birthplace of Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency, U.S. commanders will try to pull off the military equivalent of brain surgery: defeating the militants with minimal use of force.
The goal of U.S.-led NATO forces will be to avoid inspiring support for the Taliban even as the coalition tries to root them out when the Kandahar operation begins in earnest next month.
The ancient silk road city – a dust-covered, impoverished jumble of one- and two-story concrete and mud brick – may not look like much of a prize.