There has been almost no winter this year in Afghanistan, only the lightest dusting of snow on the mountains round Kabul and no rain for the fertile farmlands of the south. The mild weather has brought no lull in the fighting, which in parts of the south-west and the north has seen serious reverses for the Taliban. Around Kandahar and in the south-western Helmand province much of the leadership in the field has been killed, captured or forced to flee into Pakistan, or, in a few cases, Iran. Yet, as hopes rise in western military bases in Afghanistan, the capitals of the nations supporting Isaf (the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force) descend into ever deeper gloom.
今年，阿富汗幾乎沒有冬天，喀布爾周圍的山上只落了薄薄一層雪，南部肥沃的田野則一滴雨也沒有下。溫和的天氣並未讓戰鬥暫時停歇，在西南部和北部地區，塔利班(Taliban)勢力遭受重挫。在坎大哈(Kandahar)周邊和西南部赫爾曼德省(Helmand)，大量戰地頭目被擊斃、俘虜，或被迫逃往巴基斯坦，也有少數逃往伊朗。然而，正當西方駐阿富汗軍事基地裏燃起希望之時，北約(Nato)領導下的國際安全支持部隊(ISAF)各成員國的首都，卻籠罩上了更深的悲觀情緒。