Meanwhile, In Afghanistan...

Sec. of Defense Gates travels to Afghanistan to find out what the hell is going on.

'Yikes', he probably thought, 'I didn't realize I was hired to clean up two wars!' (and maybe even start one or two more, hey why not, right?). Gates discussed the possibilities of maybe trying to do something about the Taliban, and maybe trying to make the government we created relevant beyond the capitol. "Success in Afghanistan is our top priority," he said.

Ahhh, if wishes were ponies, truly our foreign policy would be in need of many stables.

[PS- Speaking of wishes and ponies, Sec. Rice said today she plans a three-way summit to "bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together soon for what she called informal talks on how to set up a Palestinian state". This meeting, they insist, will be different than others that have failed in recent years. Let's keep our fingers crossed and our skepticism high.]