Do you agree with this opinion re Afghanistan?

QUOTE "But if NATO is doing better than the United States, why is Afghanistan doing worse? The answer is twofold. NATO was brought in too late, and under false pretenses....WHEN things go wrong — touchdown pes are missed, products come out defective, wars are lost — it is typical to blame the equipment, or the help. In the case of the unraveling situation in Afghanistan, the N A T O has become the favorite whipping boy of American officials and military personnel. NATO countries aren’t sending enough troops, we hear. Those who do arrive are constrained by absurd caveats that prevent them from engaging in combat. NATO lost Helmand Province to the Taliban.. The American troops’ training, in contrast, seemed ad hoc, usually carried out by each unit on its own, rather than by a dedicated training staff. And it involved very few civilians, despite the crucial humanitarian and political aspects of the mission here." UNQUOTE a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/opinion/10chayes.html?_r=1&oref=sloginhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/opinion/10chayes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" rel="nofollow"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/opinio…/a