No Champagne, one assumes, for General Stanley McChrystal. To the chagrin of his German and Italian colleagues, the earnest American leading nato forces in Afghanistan has banned alcohol at his Kabul headquarters. But he must be mightily satisfied with developments this week. A much-trumpeted offensive in Afghanistan's bloodiest province, Helmand, was launched on February 13th, centred on the insurgent stronghold of Marja, and has so far gone rather well. Meanwhile, it emerged that the Taliban's deputy leader and operational commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was recently captured in Karachi, Pakistan.
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