Hey guys, wanna march in step towards the sound of the guns?

Secretary of War Gates, at the Conference of European Armies, demanded, again, that NATO countries (lookin’ at you, Germany) end the limits on the use to which their troops in Afghanistan may be put. “As you know better than most people, brothers in arms achieve victory only when all march in step toward the sound of the guns.” I think he thinks he’s fighting the Crimean War. He also stole some rhetoric from John F. Kennedy, saying that “In Afghanistan a handful of allies are paying the price and bearing the burdens.” He threatened to pull American troops out of Kosovo and suggested that Americans might begin to question the utility of NATO.

He suggested that those military leaders pressure their political leaders to lift those restrictions. Civilian rule is so darned inconvenient.