Every time I see another article about the mess in Afghanistan it just reminds me how utterly incompetant the 1600 Crew are. As if I really needed reminding after Mess O'Potamia, illegal spying on us, Katrina ... and the list goes on. Apparently, the NATO commander in-country is asking for more troops to help ... defend against The TALIBAN. Remember them? The guys about whom Beloved Leader did a Texas Two-Step about "beating" before he went on to Mess O'Potamia?

NATO commander Gen. James L. Jones said Thursday that the military alliance needs as many as 2,500 more soldiers and additional aircraft for its sweeps in southern Afghanistan, acknowledging that officers were surprised by the force of the fight being mounted there by the resurgent Taliban militia.

Jones said in Brussels that NATO was facing a "difficult period" on the battlefield but would prevail even at its present strength. But more troops for the alliance commander would be "a cushion . . . some insurance, if you will, that he has more than enough force to do the job."

Jones declined to say which member countries he felt should provide more forces. Canadian Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said in response to the remarks that his country had met its commitments, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

German Defense Ministry officials played down suggestions that German troops stationed in the country's north would redeploy to the south, the Reuters news agency reported.

Jones said that NATO knew it was stirring up a "hornet's nest" when it took to the field in the south, but that the "tenacity of resistance" was more than expected. The militiamen were standing and fighting rather than employing their usual hit-and-run tactics, he said.

But he said that "the ultimate solution in Afghanistan is not a military solution." It will depend instead on "the cohesion and the consistent support of the international aid structure."

So, we're now seeing the price that we're going to pay in Afghanistan for taking our eyes off the ball (again) by not first, living up to the promises we made to the Afghani people after rousting the Taliban and Osama, and secondly diverting military resources from Afghanistan while there was still one strategic objective left undone: the capture and or termination of all of the top leadership of Al-Qaeda in a very public manner.

With the 1600 Crew in charge, nothing surprises me anymore, but much saddens me. And the utter failure of the policy in Afghanistan is one of those things that makes me despair of how we'll ever be a respected world leader again as a nation.

I guess taking back Congress this autumn and then the presidency in 2008 is a start. But it's going to be long road back. Just look at the mess in Afghanistan if you need a reminder.