Getting back to Gate's first declaration. He appeared to be questioning the TACTICS adopted by the British - and now it seems that the Afghans themselves are suggesting the same . Could it be that in fact the hard-nosed policy of USA is the way to go in discouraging the Taliban, in fact ?

Originally Posted by Del Boy

Getting back to Gate's first declaration. He appeared to be questioning the TACTICS adopted by the British - and now it seems that the Afghans themselves are suggesting the same . Could it be that in fact the hard-nosed policy of USA is the way to go in discouraging the Taliban, in fact ?

That sounds catchy, but if that were the way then this conversation would not exist. I think that Honorable Gates should have compared and contrasted the different doctrines, and all the available data on how it worked out. Knowledge in this endeavor is key.