Afghan Update

NATO will take over more training and support duties, but the counter insurgency and military actions will be left in the hands of US forces.

NATO foreign ministers approved mission rules on Thursday for an expanded peacekeeping force in Afghanistan next year which Washington hopes will allow it to cut U.S. troop levels there.

The agreement leaves the most dangerous counter-insurgency work in the hands of the 20,000-strong U.S.-led coalition but gives NATO more scope to help local Afghan forces with training and other tasks such as disarming illegal armed groups.

"When the expansion takes place next year, it will mean NATO is operating in three-quarters of the territory of Afghanistan," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference.

NATO is looking to raise its 9,000-strong ISAF peacekeeping force to some 15,000 troops from early next year. It will spread its bases in the north and west, and the capital, Kabul, to the more volatile south, a base for many insurgents.

Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are earmarked to lead the expansion into the south but NATO still needs further troop contributions before it can go ahead early next year.

Meanwhile, more Afghans see positive developments and hold an optimistic outlook on their country. And Osama's cratering in the polls with a 10% approval rating, which probably mirror's his physical status.

Yet despite these and other deprivations, 77 percent of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction — compared with 30 percent in the vastly better-off United States. Ninety-one percent prefer the current Afghan government to the Taliban regime, and 87 percent call the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban good for their country. Osama bin Laden, for his part, is as unpopular as the Taliban; nine in 10 view him unfavorably.

Progress fuels these views: Despite the country's continued problems, 85 percent of Afghans say living conditions there are better now than they were under the Taliban. Eighty percent cite improved freedom to express political views. And 75 percent say their security from crime and violence has improved as well. After decades of oppression and war, many Afghans see a better life.

More can be done; most say each of these is better, but not "much" better, than under the Taliban. And in a fourth crucial area — jobs and economic opportunity — progress is badly lacking: In this basic building block, just 39 percent see improvement.

Another troublesome area is the continued drug trafficking problem, and that affects the development of jobs. Some take to growing opium to make ends meet, and that contradicts the US War on Drugs, so it's a balancing act to get people to develop other crops, but no other crops can provide income the way that opium can. Ranting Profs breaks down some of the polling data, and thinks that 3 of 10 polled thinking that the US deserves to be attacked is troublesome. I'd posit that if you conduct a similar poll in Europe or in the US, you might see similar troublesome attitudes, particularly among the Left. Barcepundit, Ed Driscoll [who notes that Osama has a 10% approval rating], Tim Blair [who notes that the harsh winter is coming meme is making a comeback], and Harry's Place are all on the story.

UPDATE:
Rob Port of Say Anything also notices - noting that it takes time for years of Taliban rule to be undone and generations of civil war to be overcome.