Afghans caught in war's rising tide

As NATO launches its largest offensive to date in southern Afghanistan, this CSMonitor is a good topography of the stakes in Afghanistan today,and the battle for the hearts-and-minds of the Afghan citizens that both sides are battling for.

Some of the man-on-the-street quotes give a good sense of the enmity towards both Taliban and NATO forces. One illustration towards ISAF troops, obliged to maintain an aggressive posture for their own force protection:

'Indeed, on the streets of Kandahar, some see the local Canadian ISAF contingent as a greater menace than the Taliban.
Among a clutch of rickshaw drivers assembled by a dusty curbside recently, one says that the Canadians shot his nephew; and another claims that they shot two of his cousins, who were only riding their bicycles.'