Possibly one of the smartest men in our government is Sec. of Defense, Robert Gates.  He talks with Fareed Zakaria on CNN about what he thinks of the situation there and what we can and should do.  I think his responses are right on.  You can see part one and part two.  Brilliant guy!

On Afghanistan: the government must believe it’s their war.  It would be a stretch to get involved militarily and logistically.  If we get involved, the population will feel they’re being occupied and we’ll lose.

On Pakistan: We must instruct the Pakistani government to fight the Taliban, however, it’s critical because they don’t ask for our help, yet they ask for foreign aid.

On Iraq: It’s progressing but still volitile.  Al-Qaeda is now focusing Shia against Sunni instead of focusing on American forces.  Fareed, however, is less optimistic and I tend to agree with Fareed.  With this, the British are leaving Iraq within a few months.  Basically, the US is the only major force in the coalition.  Our next backups are Austrailia and Romania who only have a few hundred troops there.