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RAHMATGUL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson speaks during a change of command ceremony at the Resolute Support Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. ByRobertBurns The Associated Press ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT Afterinflicting heavy losses on weakened Afghan security forces a year ago, the Taliban under new leadership have been surprisingly slow to ramp up attacks at the midpoint of the traditional fighting season, senior American military officers said Sun- day. In an Associated Press interview, Marine Gen. Jo- seph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he is cautiously encour- aged by a relative slacken- ing of the Taliban's aggres- sive tactics. Citing "a lower level of violence from the Taliban than we have seen in the past," Dunford was quick to say that while he be- lieves Afghan forces have seized battlefield momen- tum, there are no assur- ances that the balance won't shift again. "We've seen peaks and valleys with the Taliban before, but certainly on the ground right now the Af- ghan forces have the mo- mentum," he said, speak- ing aboard an Air Force C-17 transport plane en route from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to Stuttgart, Germany. Dunford spent three days in Afghanistan speaking with U.S. and Af- ghan commanders, troops and officials. On Sunday he met with President Ashraf Ghani and other senior members of Ghani's gov- ernment in Kabul. Dunford commanded all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014. In separate interviews in Afghanistan over the week- end, other senior U.S. offi- cers highlighted an unex- pected easing of Taliban military pressure in the days since Ramadan, the period of traditional Mus- lim fasting, ended in early July. One called it a "tacti- cal pause," another said it points to a weakening of the Taliban, but none claimed it means an early end to the long war. Private analysts inter- viewed Sunday expressed skepticism about the war's progress. Anthony Cordesman, an Afghanistan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there are many forces at work against the country in addition to a resilient Tal- iban, even if the militants may have become more fragmented. "Poverty is rising, gov- ernance is extremely weak and virtually absent in many districts," Cordesman said in an email exchange. "Power brokers and ex-war- lords are stronger. No prog- ress has been made in fight- ing corruption in one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Narcotics is be- coming more important in the economy, and there is a major brain drain." He said President Barack Obama's recent decision to commit U.S. troops longer and more directly "really does matter" on the mili- tary front. "But, Afghan- istan desperately needs unified and more effective leadership and governance, more economic aid and re- form, and less corruption or all the weakening of the Taliban can do is to make this an endless war of at- trition." Dunford said he found Afghan commanders and officials heartened by Obama's decisions to keep 8,400 U.S. troops in the country when he leaves of- fice, more than previously planned, and to authorize more aggressive use of U.S. forces in support of Afghan offensive actions. "It's a psychological turn- ing point" for the Afghan government and its security forces, he said, while add- ing: "I'm not sure it's a turn- ing point on the ground" for actual war fortunes. USofficershopefulasTaliban vi ol enc e un ex pe ct ed ly s li ps AFGHANISTAN By Russell Contreras The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Resi- dents along the U.S.-Mexico border are feeling ignored in the midst of a U.S. pres- idential election in which immigration, border secu- rity and a proposed wall are being hotly debated, a poll released Monday suggests. A Cronkite News-Univi- sion News-Dallas Morning News border poll found a majority of urban residents surveyed on both sides of the border are against the building of a wall between the two countries and be- lieve the campaign's tone is damaging relations. Residents feel Demo- crats and Republicans are ignoring their concerns and aren't proposing solutions to help their economies or combat drug trafficking and human smuggling, journal- ists who gathered reaction to the poll found. According to the poll, 86 percent of border residents in Mexico and 72 percent of those questioned in the U.S. were against building a wall. The economy/jobs and crime/drugs tied at 37 per- cent each for the most im- portant issue for border res- idents, the poll found. The poll surveyed 1,427 residents in 14 border sis- ter cities to assess attitudes and opinions on the local economy, immigration and border security. It was con- ducted in April and May. The majority of inter- views were done in Spanish on both sides of the border, and the margin of error was 2.6 percent. Michael Baselice, presi- dent and CEO of Baselice & Associates Inc., the Texas- based public research opin- ion firm that conducted the survey, said he didn't believe the predominance of Spanish speakers who participated in the survey skewed the results. He said around the same percent- age of Spanish speakers were surveyed in a similar border poll in 2001. Baselice said residents on the U.S. sides were ran- domly chosen and surveyed by telephone. Residents in Mexico were randomly se- lected from targeted neigh- borhoods in certain cities and surveyed face-to-face, he said. Among the questions asked: "Should the U.S. build a wall between Mex- ico and the U.S. in an effort to secure the border?" And "Please describe in your own words the three most important issues or prob- lems facing you and your family." The survey comes as Donald Trump prepares to accept the GOP presi- dential nomination. While earning praise from some conservatives, Trump has drawn scrutiny from im- migration activists and oth- ers for promising to build a wall and deport immi- grants who are in the coun- try illegally. New Mexico Gov. Su- sana Martinez, a two-term Republican, has worked for years with her counterparts south of the border to build an international economic hub in the region. A border wall would hurt trade and not get to the root causes of illegal immigration and drug trafficking, she has said. Many residents ex- pressed concerns over se- curity but want to be bet- ter connected to the other side of the border, said Al- fredo Corchado, a former Dallas Morning News Mex- ico City bureau chief who now serves as an editor on the Borderlands desk at Cronkite News. "And walls are not going to do that," Corchado said. POLL US-Mexico border residents oppose wall P a i d A d v e r t i s e m e n t ARetirementCommunity 750 David Avenue Red Bluff, CA. 96080 (530) 527-9193 www.tehamaestatesretirement.com Tours Provided Daily 365-7194or365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING EVICTIONS Fast, Efficient & Affordable 530.527.2104 756 Rio St, Red Bluff www.atwellpropartners.com | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2016 4 B