Afghan Spring?

Rajiv Chandrasekaran (Washinton Post) reports that "signs of change have sprouted this spring amid the lush fields and mud-brick villages of southern Afghanistan. ... For the first time since the war began nearly a decade ago, the Taliban is commencing a summer fighting season with less control and influence of territory in the south than it had the previous year." Has Gen. David H. Petraeus pulled another rabbit out the hat? If only it were that simple. The road ahead remains perilous. Still, this report is encouraging.