Brussels
Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a striking point at the NATO ministerial conference here last night: In May, for the first time, there were more coalition deaths in Afghanistan (18, including 13 Americans) than there were in Iraq (16, including 14 Americans).
He used this to urge our European allies to start meeting their troops commitments in Afghanistan, but it’s an important reminder that things aren’t going so well in the forgotten war. It could also be argued that U.S. troop levels–140,000 thousand in Iraq versus 52,000 in Afghanistan–are out of whack and need readjusting. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the next President had to spend more of his time worrying about Afghanistan than Iraq? Wouldn’t it be horrifying if the Bush diversion to Iraq made Afghanistan the quagmire?