WAR CHANGES: The United States and its allies are working to create a new American-led military command in southern Afghanistan, a change that The Wall Street Journal says will greatly expand the Pentagon’s role in directing the future course of the Afghan war. Senior military officials say the new command, which will be led by a Marine major-general, will manage all military operations in Helmand province, including the continuing campaign in Marjah. The organisational change will allow the existing British-led command in southern Afghanistan to focus exclusively on the Taleban stronghold of Kandahar, which the Obama administration has publicly identified as the site of the next major offensive of the war, the Journal says. Many of the 30,000 American reinforcements being deployed to Afghanistan will take part in the assault on Kandahar, the most-populous city in southern Afghanistan and the Taleban’s spiritual birthplace.