WORLD NEWS; "Pentagon Reports Taliban Gains and Strains," by Peter Spiegel, Wall Street Journal, 29 April 2010.
NATION: "Pentagon says instability in Afghanistan has 'leveled off,'" by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post, 29 April 2010.
Same report, but fairly different headlines--at least
The WSJ focuses on the Taliban's "ability to set up shadow governments that "discredit the authority and legitimacy" of the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai." The group is not seen as winning more support among the people, just demonstrating that it can effectively control sub-regions.
The recent surge is considered successful in terms of demoralizing the Taliban and making it harder for them to keep up the insurgency. But roadside bombs are way up.
Gist? The Taliban would appear to be burrowing in and concentrating on the safest bomb-delivery methods. Also a bit of standoff: the Taliban re-infiltrate areas we clear and we're not convincing Afghans that we can deliver on the economic recovery. Then again, most Afghans, according to polls, blame the Taliban more for the violence.
Smells like a stalemate.
WAPO's more optimistic headlines seems to reflect the report's judgment that overall violence has peaked and more Afghans, again in polls, are starting to say that the government is headed in the right direction. WAPO points out that the report does not declare any turning of the tide. Only a quarter of the districts polled seem to be in the government's camp.
Find the actual report here
This slide, denoting operating areas of the various militias, comes from the report (the big one to note is the TB for Taliban--sorry, but the legend didn't come through).
[thanks to Maj. Riley]