Gates says “a flourishing democracy in Afghanistan” remains the long-term goal, but in the short-term the administration will focus on “making headway and reversing the Taliban’s momentum and strengthening the Afghan army and police, and really going after Al Qaeda as the President said.” Holbrooke says Afghanistan is not Vietnam:
Keep in mind that in February “contrarian” Chas Freeman was calling for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan because “The Taliban is not a direct military threat to the United States.” That was the man Blair wanted to head the National Intelligence Council, and in his infinite wisdom Blair still thinks “he would have made a great National Intelligence Council Chairman.” Also, Gates talked about North Korea’s imminent missile test, saying “The reality is that the six-party talks really have not made any headway anytime recently… Launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures.” Is that a shot at Chris Hill?
