(Wired) [...] Getting a fix on “ground truth” is still a major issue for the military. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, said it was still a challenge for military intelligence.

“We have been conditioned in our careers, in many cases, to focus on the enemy, to ask how many insurgents there are, what kind of weapons they carry, who are their leaders,” he said. “And while that’s all important, in this war, in fact, we need to recalibrate and refocus our effort so that we really understand the environment in which the insurgents operate.”

That approach, he added, is being applied to Kandahar, a traditional Taliban stronghold where U.S. and NATO forces are preparing to step up operations.