Though the argument seems to be increasingly difficult to take seriously, NATO is again maintaining that the Taliban are not getting any stronger, and indeed suggesting that they might be getting weaker.

“The insurgency has not become stronger,” insisted Gen. Josef Blotz. “We are actually squeezing the insurgency, we are cornering the insurgency, we are taking out the oxygen out of the insurgency.”

If the Afghan insurgency is being “cornered,” however, there are no indications of where that corner is. This weekend has seen at least seven NATO troops killed, including six on Saturday, a large number of police killed, a border post entirely overrun in the north, and a district governor assassinated.