"Here's how the report summarizes the situation in straight prose: 'Some individual islands of security exist in the sea of instability or insecurity.' The authors muster only two islands: the town of Mazur-i-Sharif in the north and 'small contiguous areas' near the Ring Road in the south. The level of security, they add, is 'significantly related to the presence of well-led and non-corrupt' units of Afghan soldiers or police."