British troops in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province are handing control of the city of Lashkar Gah to Afghan security forces. Nato has already handed over the relatively peaceful province of Bamiyan and the eastern town of Mehter Lam.

Gen. David Petraeus stepped down as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Monday, just as the Taliban's strength seems to be on the rise. The militants' growing power comes not from conventional military victories - on that score, Petraeus has racked up considerable advances in the past year - but, rather, from what may be a shift in the real war that's going on: the war for the favor (or at least complicity) of the Afghan people.