Sad news came yesterday for six American families, following a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan that killed six US soldiers. The pain of each family will be multiplied by the fact that their loved ones died mere weeks from the holidays.

Americans with sons and daughters enlisted in the armed forces, and stationed in Afghanistan, are probably looking each day in the media for signs of hope that the US and its NATO allies can find a way to break the Taliban insurgency’s back – and speed up the safe return of all US soldiers.