The school, which was built by US forces in 2002, was closed by the Taliban a few years later after Afghan security forces took responsibility for the area. Today it is a joint American and Afghan base – and the forward most point for coalition troops in Zhari, Kandahar – the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.

As US and Afghan forces prepare to go out on patrol Monday morning, white kites fly over the city. The Taliban are signaling that coalition troops are on the move.

“They are waiting for us out there. They know we are coming,” says Lieutenant Cory Donohoo, a native of West Virginia.

The joint American and Afghan patrol sets out from the base with the hope of heading to a near by town for some face time with locals – a key part of the American strategy in Afghanistan

“Once we get into these fields,” explains Captain Nick Stout, the company commander. “This is their territory.”

The Taliban’s territory is a mixture of rocky canals, ten-foot tall mud walls, and dense fields of pomegranate and marijuana.

It is an area, the soldiers of the Alpha Company, 1-502 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 101^st Airborne Division, are just getting to know after arriving earlier this summer.

But the insurgents know it well, and move around easily from building to building unimpeded.

Just a few minutes into the patrol, it is clear the Taliban are near and know the troops are approaching.

“Hey six, those pop shots are getting closer,” yells out one soldier.

Radio traffic also picks up the Taliban talking about an ambush.

As the patrol enters the large opening of the canal, villagers watch the advancing troops. The soldiers don’t know if they are there accidentally or part of a first warning system used by the Taliban.

Minutes later, gunfire erupts.

Insurgents have two US and Afghan squads pinned down along the waterway. It is a textbook “L” shaped ambush by an enemy that US commanders acknowledge are well disciplined and organized.

The battle rages for more than 30 minutes. With the Taliban firing rocket propelled grenades and a hail of bullets at coalition troops.

US and Afghan troops return fire as the ground shakes from the explosions of the grenades being thrown.

Ultimately, the fighting slows and the Taliban disappear as quickly as they arrived- filtering back into the maze of mud buildings and thick vegetation.

The scorching heat and intense battle forces the American and Afghan troops to return to the school after only advancing 400 meters from their base and without speaking to the villagers in the near by town.

Despite the meager progress, the advance represents the farthest US troops have pushed up the canal, and Captain Stout is encouraged.

“There is really no other way to do this.  You got to keep getting after it. Keep trying to hold what ground you gain. Over time that ground will expand.”

With the Taliban around seemingly every corner, progress for now in Zhari Kandahar is measured in just meters not milestones.

Gen. McChrystal has given only a few on the record interviews in the past year- so agreeing to do a profile piece with Rolling Stone was a shock to all of the journalists like myself who have been requesting time with him.

I know Michael Hastings, the author of the story a little bit – and consider him a friend. I know he was amazed that Gen McChrystal would open up as he did. But at the end of the day, Gen McChrystal said what he said and it doesnt matter the news outlet.

Being with the US military as this was all happening was fascinating. Every officer I spoke with told me that the strategy isn’t dependent on one man – and even with Gen McChrystal out the strategy stays the same. Megyn Kelly and I discuss it all here.

KABUL- NATO’s top civilian official delivered an optimistic assessment of the situation in Afghanistan Friday, telling NATO Defense Ministers the alliance had regained the initiative in the war torn country

(VIDEO OF MY LIVE WITH MEGYN KELLY HERE).

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told ministers that a plan to start handing over responsibility for security to Afghans “province by province” would soon be agreed upon.

However, Rasmussen’s optimism was tempered by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“Our effort is moving in the right direction but the road ahead will be long and hard,” Gates said. “I hope that by the end of year, we will be able to demonstrate that we are making progress throughout the country.”

Optimism in Afghanistan comes as the American and international military surge faces several key challenges.

On Thursday, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, admitted that the upcoming operation in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar would be pushed back several months because local Afghans are not fully cooperating with coalition forces.  And earlier successes in the central Helmand city of Marjah have disappeared as the Taliban has begun reasserting itself in the region.

Political goals have fallen well short of expectations as well.

Corruption remains rife and Afghanistan’s May parliamentarian elections were pushed back to September because of increasing violence and fears of ballot stuffing.

Only half of the Afghan cabinet has been approved by parliament and Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently fired the two top officials overseeing Afghanistan weak security apparatus – both of which were wildly considered by U.S. and western officials as competent and qualified.

Aid and military Resources are pouring into Afghanistan, and U.S. officials believe concrete signs of progress will be visible by the end of the year.

But one of the lone bright spots is the growing media and entertainment industry.

I first saw it during the August Presidential Election. There must have been a couple dozen Afghan news organizations at every event. And entertainment TV and radio are flourishing  – especially as more and more of the country gets electricity.

I’ve spoken to several photographers who say Afghanistan is the best place in the world to shoot. If that is true, expect more and more movies to be filmed here in the future – IF peace and stability ever take hold.

Even as things deteriorate between the government and foreigners working in Afghanistan, I find the overwhelming majority Afghan people still very supportive of the international community.

Admittedly, I have a some what limited pool of Afghans to make this judgment from but most polls do show Afghans still want international help – so I don’t think I am wrong in my judgment.

Well  today they were right! And I had a front row seat.

Around 4am, just as the call to prayer was echoing across the city, I woke up to a loud boom. It’s not the first loud noise I’ve heard during the middle of the night but I immediately heard  another blast a few minutes later and knew this wasn’t a gate closing or an echo of a tray being dropped in a court yard. A few minutes later, I heard 6 or so gun shots.

According to various reports, the Taliban fired at least 9 rockets in the area near the US/ Canadian/British embassies. I live about 5 minutes from the US embassy in a generally safe area of Kabul but because of its proximity to the embassies – it’s also a target area.

The interesting thing about today’s attack is that people several miles away from the hit zones heard the explosions – which is pretty amazing considering the one impact I saw was only three feet across and six inches deep – not a massive hole.

Fortunately, no one was killed in today’s attack but the scary aspect is that the Taliban were able to fire off 9 rockets during a 90minute period. I generally think the security services in Kabul are OK, but today doesn’t say much about their rapid response.

Lets hope they can re-group going forward.

For the past three months I’ve been living in a guest house in Shar-e-now, and while it was a great place – it was always a temporary home. I pretty much lived out of one of my two bags. The other just sat in the corner unopened. So I never really felt settled in.

But now I have a new pad! And it’s nice to be settled in.

My place is in a generally safe part of Kabul and I live with a good group of people. I have my own room with a nice space to work and edit. Off the main room there is a large balcony for live shots.

Most of my live hits for FNC will be at night – probably in the 3a.m. time period – so it will take a lot of light to brighten the backdrop. The natural light of the city just won’t cut it.

Fortunately, my neighbors know I will be shinning extremely bright lights in their rooms during the middle of the night, and while they might not like it, they’ve said it’s ok. It helps that they are also my landlords!

I recently returned from Paktika Province after a one week trip with Scott Hiedler of Fox News. We were there to do a story on the Afghanistan/ Pakistan border – which as you can see from these photos is a vast and rugged area.

While we were hanging out at Camp Tillman, several of the soldiers told us about a remarkable 16 year old Afghan boy who works in the Army clinic at Camp Tillman. Scott and I immediately knew this was an interesting story.

The US and Afghan Armies  have several outposts surrounding Camp Tillman. None of which are easy to get to. I walked these steps once and was breathing hard. The soldiers stationed at OP4 do it several times a day. They live a Spartan life. No internet, no running water,  cramped living quarters, very few warm meals and a constant threat of Taliban attacks.

Still, not a single guy complained. In fact, they all said they enjoyed it.

I also wrote an accompany story for Foxnews.com about the military’s changing approach to development and training in Afghanistan. Even without the resurgence of the Taliban, the challenges are MASSIVE and success — however you define — it won’t be achieved anytime soon. Still, there are lots of little postitive developments happening every day here in Afghanistan.

After six weeks here in Afghanistan I was feeling the need for a trim. I had a sweet little rat tail growing in the back — and I was starting to feel like it was 1985. But after spending Easter Sunday with a classmate of mine from VMI – Maj. John Wilcox — and several hundred other troops at ISAF’s headquarters – I really felt the need for a cut. But where to go, and just how much would I pay?

Several friends suggested getting a cut at UNICA  – it’s one of the many UN compounds in Kabul. But it was closed. So I decided to try my luck with a local Afghan barber. Fortunately, there was a shop one block from UNICA, and they even had a sign in English. I figured that was a good start.

At this point, I am pretty accustomed to the looks I get from local Afghans when I am out and about. But rarely, have I seen Afghans look as surprised as they were, when I walked into their shop. Judging by the 10 minutes we spent trying to communicate, I am willing to bet I was the first Westerner to sit in their chair. Getting nowhere, we finally just gave up and the barber started to chop away.

As I am sitting in the chair, Afghans of all ages are looking in. Another sign this is a first. It’s a little nerve racking to have that many people watching while someone you don’t know has scissors near your head. But it was even more unnerving, when the barber broke out a straight razor to clean up the back of my neck.

This is a  process I am not comfortable with even in the US — the scene  from “The Untouchables” still sticks in my mind when Al Capone (Robert De Niro) is getting a shave and is cut by his barber. But throw in the sights and sounds of Afghanistan and its even more unsettling. At one point I looked down at my hands, and they were white from gripping the arms of the chair.

I am happy to report, no blood was spilled  in the making of this blog post, and I am fine. The haircut is OK too. And at 300 Afs ($6.00), it was far cheaper than my $35.00 special — which would have cost me 1,800Afs.

I will take my Afghan barber over my shopping mall cut anyday. Unfortunatley, I don’t think there will be a next time. After I paid, he passed me a resume and asked if I could help him get a job. I guess trimming hair isn’t paying the bills — he should charge more.