Gatesgate

The Los Angeles Times article that launched a firestorm in Canada, Britain and the Netherlands can be found here. Canada wasn't mentioned by name (as some Canadian reports have implied), and many of Secretary Gates's comments could apply to the NATO alliance as a whole, including the United States. Still, with Canadians doing much of the heavy lifting in Afghanistan - and considering the US military's own record in counterinsurgency - it's not hard to see why remarks like this are getting our backs up:

In the interview, Gates compared the troubled experience of the NATO forces in the south -- primarily troops from the closest U.S. allies, Britain and Canada, as well as the Netherlands -- with progress made by American troops in the eastern part of Afghanistan. He traced the failing in part to a Cold War orientation.

"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap," Gates said, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was deemed most likely.

At the very least, a public clarification is called for - not to mention an acknowledgment of the mistakes America has made in Afghanistan. Canadians can handle constructive criticism, but arrogance is something else entirely.

Mark has more at The Torch:

My understanding, from a knowledgeable source, is that in fact we went into combat at Kandahar in 2006 having trained along Cold War lines based on the "Fulda Gap" scenario (Mr Gates coincidentally remarks: '"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap," Gates said, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was deemed most likely.'). However the CF have been exceptionally rapid at learning counterinsurgency lessons and putting them into practice; they are now very well trained for what they're doing. The source made a rather rude remark about Mr Gate's claims as they relate to the present.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at January 17, 2008 08:50 AM