I guess that Robert Gates is just Don Rumsfeld without the charisma.

He’s criticising NATO forces for not doing a proper job in Afghanistan.

Of course, he would be a bit more convincing if:

• The US had not allowed Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar get away because they were too timid about potential US casualties.
• Bush and His Evil Minions^™ hadn’t simply dropped a not-yet pacified south to go after Saddam, who had nothing to do with 911.
• If US tactics in the south weren’t so violent and indiscriminate (particularly the bomb happy USAF), that the British weren’t asking US special forces to get the hell out.
• If US aid policies in Afghanistan weren’t primarily for the benefit of US contractors who were Republican donors.
• If the US wasn’t juxtaposing this incompetence in delivering aid with an aggressive anti-opium program that leaves Afghan farmers with a choice between aiding the Taliban or starving.
• The US wasn’t currently limiting its operations in the east, where Taliban activity is minimal.
• If the US were not committing a smaller proportion of its military to Afghanistan than the NATO allies.

Is there a single competent Republican party Apparatchik in this entire nation?