Troop request cannot wait for Afghan perfection

Reuters:

The United States cannot wait for problems surrounding the legitimacy of the Afghan government to be resolved before making a decision on troops, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.

Gates, speaking to reporters on board a plane traveling to Tokyo, described the situation in Afghanistan as an evolutionary process that would not improve dramatically overnight, regardless of what course is taken following the country's flawed August election.

"I see this as a process, not something that's going to happen all of the sudden," Gates said.

"I believe that the president will have to make his decisions in the context of that evolutionary process."

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell added that Gates believed the issue of the Afghan government's legitimacy went well beyond the question of whoever would be declared winner of the election, or an eventual run-off.

...

The fact is that if Afghanistan had a more perfect government it would need less help to begin with. The administration dithering is probably more to please the kook base of the Democrat party than to address honest concerns about what course to take. Adding more troops is the smart choice.

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