- "Talking with" the allies, as if that hasn't been done before. But wait, this will be "straight talk" now.
- "Straight talk" that tells the Europeans that they can't place restrictions on where or when their troops will be deployed. I guess this differs from what Rice, Gates, and Bush have told the Europeans somehow. Again, this is "straight talk", which must mean that the Bush Administration hasn't been talking straight thus far. Big change there.
- Criticising Britain for failing to curtail poppy cultivation. I guess British troops just never considered going after the poppy crops. Maybe they were too busy fighting or something. The British will certainly love hearing criticism from America when their military is stretched to the breaking point.
- Placing all of the NATO troops under American control, not just Canada and Britain. This one will be sure to win over those hesitant Europeans. Put those forces that your voters don't want to have there under the control of a foreign country, one whose brilliant plans got you into this mess.
None of this is any different from what the Bush Administration is already doing. We've already had Rice giving the allies the tough talk, we've had nasty letters sent to allies threatening to stop liking them unless they do what we want, we've had Gates insulting the allies and telling them that they are just suffering from BDS, we've had Bush blame them for the failures, and we've had an awful lot of "talking" already.
Aside from the use of the words "straight talk", as if that was some kind of talismanic mantra, McCain merely promises to continue the arrogance and "bang heads" of our allies in order to get them to follow Washington's dictates. The problem isn't that Europe doesn't understand who's boss, it's that they are sick of taking orders from us altogether. They believe the conflict is unwinnable, and have said so in public. If there is such a dire need for more troops, why doesn't America send a few thousand of the 130,000 they have in Iraq, they wonder aloud. The leaders of these countries are under strong domestic pressure to withdraw or reduce their forces, but all McCain does is brush that aside and make further demands, as if they just don't understand what he's saying or something, so now he has to use "straight talk".
Europe could very well have some "straight talk" of its own for McCain. Germany, in particular, has been pretty forthright about moving their troops to the south:
“The location we have been given is in the north and that is where we are staying and, by the way, although it might seem more peaceful at the moment, there is no knowing whether that will last,” one German source said.
Not really mincing words there at all, are they. Canada, too, has been pretty "straight" as well:
Mr. MacKay said he is in Vilnius to make it clear “in no uncertain terms” that Canada must have reinforcements of troops and equipments to continue the mission – saying that it is “not a negotiable item.” And he added that he wants a commitment before a summit of NATO national leaders in Bucharest which starts April 2.
Britain, too, has been pretty "straight" when describing their situation. They are running out of money, running out of men, and they think the conflict is unwinnable.
The Dutch, too, are tired of being preached at by the Americans.
In short, the Afghan effort is too costly, too unpopular at home, has gone on too long, and has shown too little progress for Europe to expand their troop levels or expenditures. In addition, the plan from Washington has been unrealistic and poorly conceived, so the allies will be reluctant to place their troops under the command of the American President. None of these things are likely to be solved by simply shouting at foreign leaders to step up their efforts. In fact, it's likely to undermine support for the Afghan mission further:
One Nato diplomat said: “I think Mr Gates’s intervention is more about domestic politics than anything else but sometimes I wonder whether the US realises the negative impact these spats have outside America.”
Nothing a little "straight talk" won't solve, eh?
story from The Daily Telegraph
McCain wants more EU troops for Afghanistan
By Tim Shipman, Norfolk, Virginia
Last Updated: 1:16am GMT 10/02/2008
John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for November's US presidential race, is to launch a diplomatic offensive to push France and Germany to do more to help British forces in Afghanistan.
Mr McCain has told The Sunday Telegraph that he plans to bang European heads together. "I'll go over there and sit down with them," he said, to discuss what he sees as "Nato's failure to do the heavy lifting in Afghanistan".
Details of Mr McCain's deep concern at the state of the war against the Taliban are the first disclosure of how his approach to foreign policy would affect Britain.
He is troubled that Nato allies have failed to provide sufficient troops to take on the Taliban in the south of the country. He is also concerned that some European nations do not let their troops patrol at night, or take part in offensive operations.
He said: "We just had to order 3,000 additional marines to Afghanistan because of the resurgence of the Taliban.
"Let's have some straight talk. There are some operational restrictions on some of the troops that are there. Some of the countries have not contributed what they can."
But he is also critical of "the failure to bring under control the poppy crop", an area where Britain has taken an ineffective lead. Most of the heroin that is produced goes to Europe, he said.
In a signal that he would lead an overhaul of the fight against the Taliban, Mr McCain said he wanted to see changes to the current dual command structure, which permits some Nato members to focus on nation-building exercises in Afghanistan, while Britain and Canada are fully integrated in the US military command.
"It's a command structure that's not as efficient as it could be," he said
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