Is the western press being unfair in its portrayal of the Nato effort in Afghanistan?

BBC correspondent Caroline Wyatt has travelled around Kabul, Helmand and the northern province of Balkh with Nato, to report on what they see as the good news from the country.

At a tomato paste factory supported by US aid agency USAID in Balkh she spoke Shakira, a woman worker grateful for her job and with growing confidence in the security situation.

Her main fear was that if Nato forces leave, the situation will quickly deteriorate.

A local politician was not so positive. "Always I think 'why don't we have security'," she said. "I believe in my life there will not come peace".

But the Nato commander in Helmand Major-General Richard Mills, was bullish in his analysis of the war.

"I believe the insurgent is on a timeline," he said.

"He knows he's losing the population, he's lost the military fight on the battlefield, and now he's losing the will of the people.

"The guy's desperate, and you can see it in his actions."

His analysis was echoed by Mark Sedwill, Nato's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, who told Evan Davis that the Taliban "have really given up trying to compete for the hearts and minds".

But he did accept that there was "tension" among Nato member states, eager to set a timetable for withdrawal.

"People right through the alliance are impatient," he said.

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