Rays of hope in Afghanistan

The Asia Foundation is out with its 2006 survey of Afghan public opinion, and it's chock full of heartening findings. Eighty-seven percent of the public trusts the new Afghan National Army. Remarkably, a similar percentage trusts the oft-maligned and still ineffective national police force. Seventy-seven percent report that they are happy with the progress of Afghan democracy, and 54 percent feel more prosperous than under the Taliban.

The recent violence in the south of the country has generated a cloud of gloom about the mission in Afghanistan. This report should at least remind us that there's a lot of good worth fighting for there. And for all NATO's shortcomings and America's missteps, the world's liberal democracies are increasingly doing that fighting side by side.