SECDEF: George Will, "... does not accord with reality."

SECDEF Gates, once again, proves that he is THE critical man in this war.

First, the video,

I cannot find any daylight in his statements. I want you do focus as well on the second half of the video. Backing up the comments I have make here and others like Greyhawk have elsewhere,

I think what’s important to remember is, the president’s decisions were only made at the — on this strategy were only made at the very end of March.

Our new commander appeared on the scene in June. We still do not have all of the forces the president has authorized in Afghanistan yet, and we still do not have all the civilian surge that the president has authorized and insisted upon in Afghanistan yet.

So we are only now beginning to be in a position to have the assets in place that — and the strategy or the military approach in place to begin to implement the strategy. And this is going to take some time.

The decisions made in March that confirmed the work Gen. McKiernan worked on for a year are only now showing up - and the effects will take even longer to show.

Did you notice the comment on the "civilian surge." As they have the entire war, the Dept. of State, USDA, USAID, and other civilian agencies are under-resourcing this war. Especially at State - as won't happen as long as the Democrats run the Legislative Branch, their special personnel regulations make it impossible even if the SECSTATE had the will - for there to be any drastic shift in support.

There are some great people at the agencies above - this isn't about specific individuals. As institutions though, in this war they have been a disgrace.

Back to the center topic; I think it is a sure sign of a lack of communication on the war by the CINC that the conversation continues to drift into the less important area of,

Washington is about to become fixated on a number: the number of troops President Barack Obama wants to add in Afghanistan.

And that's appropriate, as far as it goes. Each American deployed, after all, represents a life put on the line.

Two other questions perhaps more important to the Obama administration's effort to revive America's fortunes in Afghanistan. The first: Can the administration convince Washington that a significantly different strategy already is in place? And second, is the timeline for that strategy fast enough that it will show progress before political support collapses?

Well, there you go. The center of gravity is under significant attack in AFG - because for us it is Washington DC.

I really wish the CINC would have saved the health care group-grope for later on in his administration because SECDEF Gates can only do so much - especially when, like his position in Iraq - VP Biden is performing a classic example of negative help.

Leading those with doubts is Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has expressed deep reservations about an expanded presence in Afghanistan on the grounds that it may distract from what he considers the more urgent goal of stabilizing Pakistan, officials said.

It is starting to appear that the Center of Gravity for the USA - political support in DC - is under significant pressure. That fully lies in the CINC's lap as cause and cure.

Turn into the wind.