U.S. Progress in Afghanistan Easier for Soldiers than Civilians to See by Stephen Biddle and Michael O'Hanlon, Baltimore Sun. BLUF: "... there has been real progress. But much of it has been concentrated in previously very dangerous places such as Helmand, Kandahar and Khost. Here, entrenched Taliban insurgents have increasingly been driven from districts they had once controlled so solidly that even heavily armed coalition troops could not enter without pitched battles."