A new poll conducted in all 34 of Afghanistan’s provinces by The Washington Post, ABC News, the BBC, and ARD television of Germany has found that Afghans are losing confidence in the U.S. ability to secure their country. Meantime, support for the Taliban has increased, with respondents saying they believe the Taliban is not as radical as it once was. Interestingly, residents of two of the key southern provinces—Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar—had generally positive views of the U.S. occupation, a rare piece of good news for troops dealing with persistent violence there. “We clearly have to continue to provide the message to the Afghan people about why we’re here and what it is that we want to do,” U.S. Gen. David Petraeus said of the poll results.