"We reported all this — while highlighting the courage and perseverance of the young Americans who volunteered to serve in this long, difficult and dangerous war. ISAF headquarters, then headed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, countered that our description of the situation was too pessimistic. But of course, as the "optempo" picked up, so did friendly casualties. Public approval for the fight here in the shadow of the Hindu Kush plummeted, and no one in Washington — or any other Western capital — spoke of "winning" or put the words "victory" and "in Afghanistan" in the same sentence. But that was then, and this is now.
Over the course of this visit, it has become vividly clear to some of us who have been here repeatedly during the past nine years that the prospects for a positive outcome in this war are today better than ever before. That's not an assessment one can get from hanging around the barricaded embassies in Kabul or the bars and restaurants in the capital that serve as echo chambers for America-hating cynics."
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