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，阿富汗几乎没有冬天，喀布尔周围的山上只落了薄薄一层雪，南部肥沃的田野则一滴雨也没有下。温和的天气并未让战斗暂时停歇，在西南部和北部地区，塔利班(Taliban)势力遭受重挫。在坎大哈(Kandahar)周边和西南部赫尔曼德省(Helmand)，大量战地头目被击毙、俘虏，或被迫逃往巴基斯坦，也有少数逃往伊朗。然而，正当西方驻阿富汗军事基地里燃起希望之时，北约(Nato)领导下的国际安全支持部队(ISAF)各成员国的首都，却笼罩上了更深的悲观情绪。