My buddy is a leftie working for a Geneva-based organization - so you DO have to take it whence it comes.
But the fact that his wife couldn't go out of the house for the last six months is real. Both of them had considerably more freedom of movement in 04 than in 05. That's a fact.
What it all means - who knows?
Never got to Kabul, but did pay attention to what was going on up there. Several high visibility kidnappings, not necessarily perpetrated by Taliban or al Qaeda, resulted in the NGO's scaring their people into staying off the streets. Many NGO's don't believe in PSD's, so the only protection they get is hiding and trying to blend in.
From what I could personally observe, things got better at KAF and RC South SEP 04 - DEC 05.