When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently accused NATO forces in Afghanistan of being lousy at counterinsurgency warfare, it at first seemed to be an egregious example of the pot calling the kettle black given that the U.S.’s record in fighting Iraqi insurgents was downright dismal until it hit on the Surge strategy on the fourth or fifth try over a four-year period.
British conservative lawmaker Patrick Mercer called Gates’ comments “bloody outrageous,” but on further reflection he wasn’t off base. Bill Roggio, the estimable military blogger, is of a like mind.
Roggio, in a guest turn at The Weekly Standard, writes that:
“The fracturing of NATO over the Afghanistan deployment becomes more apparent each day. The United States has pleaded for NATO allies to deploy an additional 7,500 combat troops to Afghanistan to blunt an expected Taliban spring offensive.”
But with no relief available from the U.S.’s erstwhile allies, Gates has decided to deploy 3,200 Marines in what The Washington Post terms an effort to “shame” the NATO allies.
The Brits, who have the largest military presence in Afghanistan after the U.S., and Canada complain in turn that their forces suffer a disproportionate number of casualties.
Roggio:
“British officials note that the eastern region, where most U.S. forces are based, is far quieter than the Taliban-saturated center of British operations in Helmand, the country’s top opium-producing province. The American rejoinder, spoken only in private with references to British operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is that superior U.S. skills have made it so.”
I am again with Bill, and add the following:
Please click here to read more at Kiko’s House.