Are The Taliban At Kabul's Doorstep?

There is an interesting article here at the BBC, that describes the supposed control that the Taliban have in Wardak province in Afghanistan. Wardak province butts up close to Kabul, and Taliban advances in Wardak would mean a serious threat to Kabul. What the article points out is a real differing view on how much of Wardak the Taliban control and it's also interesting to see some of the civilians' reactions to life with and without the Taliban. Here's some of the article's details:

Wardak is the neighbouring province to Kabul and in just one month 51 trucks were burned. But the new governor, in place less than a month, thinks he can get a grip on security.
"The government has 100% control in Wardak, and the Taleban are in a very poor condition in this province - they do not have the support of the people," said Mohammad Halim Fidai, the eloquent and well-educated new arrival.

He met a Taleban commander who took him to film perhaps two dozen men, all heavily armed and parading on motorbikes, in daylight, within view of Highway One.
"I have 6,000 fighters," the commander said, "and control three quarters of Wardak province."
It was a massive exaggeration, but their brazen display by day was a strong sign of how much influence the insurgents have by night.

As you can see, two totally different views of the situation so one has to believe the truth falls in the middle somewhere. But if you read the article, you can certainly see that the Taliban in Wardak have a certain free run.

Look at this statement from one of the local villagers:

"All the Taleban did was provide security," one young man said with a couched compliment. "Now the Karzai government is building roads and bringing development. Unfortunately they cannot bring security."
Another villager was more upbeat: "In my view this government is better than the Taleban as there was no education, economy or development.

It's been my view that the civilian population will eventually be the demise of the Taliban. As security eventually gets better for the civilians, they will begin their own onslaught of tips to Afghan security forces which will really help root the Taliban out of their hiding holes.

Whether Kabul is really under a big threat...I'm not sure but I believe at some point soon, NATO and U.S. forces will need to move into Wardak like they have in Helmand.

Taleban at Kabul's doorstep

It is just an hour's drive south-west of Kabul on Afghanistan's main highway before you start to see dramatic evidence of how the insurgency is closing in on the capital.
The first thing to notice are the holes in the road - the tarmac ripped up by bombs - which the traffic has to carefully veer around.
Then it is the burned-out skeletons of trucks left by the side of the road, or some still standing where they were ambushed and burned - an obvious reminder of how security so close to Kabul has been steadily deteriorating.
Highway One was a triumph for Afghanistan's new found freedom from the Taleban.
Built at record speed with international money, it was an example of what was to follow in the rebuilding and redevelopment of a country at war for almost three decades.
Now it is almost impassable in places as buses loaded high with goods and people, or convoys of containers with supplies for international forces have to negotiate the damage and the debris.
'Valid target'
An hour before we were escorted along the road by a heavily armed police convoy, an Afghan National Army patrol had fought with insurgents after being ambushed.
Every seven or eight kilometres (four to five miles) there is a crater in the road where a hidden explosive device had been detonated as whatever the insurgents decreed a "valid target" had gone past.