You know what really makes your friends--or, say, allies, or, you know, wife--mad? It's when you hand them a mess that YOU made, expect them to fix it, and then criticize how they do it.
And some of them get madder when you say you're SORRY they got mad--you're not sorry that you were critical or had unrealistic expectations; you're just sorry that they got MAD about the criticism--and hey, you're only telling the truth, so deal with it.
Some people, or countries, get really pissed off about that kind of thing.
Although, if you're Robert Gates, it makes only some of your allies mad--the British and Dutch. They'll call you up and holler awhile. On the other hand, all the Canadians are sure that it's just a big misunderstanding.
Here's what happened. Yesterday morning, Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense, was quoted in the L.A. Times as saying that the U.S. is sending some 3500 Marines into Afghanistan because NATO doesn't know how to handle a guerilla insurgency.
OK, first, NATO wasn't really supposed to be handling an insurgency. It's supposed to be in the peacekeeping phase at this point, some 6 years after the Taliban was hypothetically routed and Osama bin Laden...hey, whatever happened to him? And yeah, tell all that to the 77th Canadian to die in Afghanistan, this week. But I digress.
So yesterday the British and the Dutch called the U.S. ambassadors in their countries to find out what the hell he meant by that, given that a few countries (cough, Canada, cough) have been bearing more than their share of the problems that the U.S. created in Afghanistan. However, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay didn't call U.S. Ambassador Wilkins asking similar questions. Instead, MacKay went in front of the TV cameras and said "it's all a misunderstanding."
And now, ladies and gentlemen...a tap dance. Yesterday afternoon, Gates called all the leaders in private to say, in effect, "C'mon, you know I wasn't talking about YOU or YOUR TROOPS when I said that NATO forces are underprepared." Tippity tap, tippity tap, ta-daaahhh!! Nothing to see over there!
Meanwhile, his spokesmodel to the Canadian media said something on the order of this: "Although the Defense Minister has the utmost respect for individual Canadian soldiers and their military leaders and recognizes that it's unpopular politically back home, the fact remains that when a conflict is unpopular back home, the tendency is to be risk-averse, and as a result, Afghanistan is unstable and we have to send in the Marines."
And then, of course, the U.S. is actually sending in Marines. One might be forgiven for wondering whether they might be needed elsewhere (hint: Iraq). However, the U.S. is tops in military strategy, right? Uh-huh. Tippity-tap, tippity-tap.
Today, Gates clarified further that he never meant to make anybody mad. They're not at all dissatisfied with the work that NATO forces have been doing since 2001, when Afghanistan was bombed into oblivion as retribution for the terrorist attacks on the U.S. World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And at the same time, they're STILL sending in 3500 or whatever Marines. Because there are still problems in Afghanistan and nobody can do it like the Marines.
But, gee, Gates didn't mean that anybody is doing a bad job or needs reinforcements. Just that it's necessary to send in Marines.
And today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper just smirked, because of course the whole hoopla was all just a misunderstanding. Robert Gates said so. The U.S. loves its friends, especially Canada! Tippity-tap, tippity-tap.
And some of them get madder when you say you're SORRY they got mad--you're not sorry that you were critical or had unrealistic expectations; you're just sorry that they got MAD about the criticism--and hey, you're only telling the truth, so deal with it.
Some people, or countries, get really pissed off about that kind of thing.
Although, if you're Robert Gates, it makes only some of your allies mad--the British and Dutch. They'll call you up and holler awhile. On the other hand, all the Canadians are sure that it's just a big misunderstanding.
Here's what happened. Yesterday morning, Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense, was quoted in the L.A. Times as saying that the U.S. is sending some 3500 Marines into Afghanistan because NATO doesn't know how to handle a guerilla insurgency.
OK, first, NATO wasn't really supposed to be handling an insurgency. It's supposed to be in the peacekeeping phase at this point, some 6 years after the Taliban was hypothetically routed and Osama bin Laden...hey, whatever happened to him? And yeah, tell all that to the 77th Canadian to die in Afghanistan, this week. But I digress.
So yesterday the British and the Dutch called the U.S. ambassadors in their countries to find out what the hell he meant by that, given that a few countries (cough, Canada, cough) have been bearing more than their share of the problems that the U.S. created in Afghanistan. However, Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay didn't call U.S. Ambassador Wilkins asking similar questions. Instead, MacKay went in front of the TV cameras and said "it's all a misunderstanding."
And now, ladies and gentlemen...a tap dance. Yesterday afternoon, Gates called all the leaders in private to say, in effect, "C'mon, you know I wasn't talking about YOU or YOUR TROOPS when I said that NATO forces are underprepared." Tippity tap, tippity tap, ta-daaahhh!! Nothing to see over there!
Meanwhile, his spokesmodel to the Canadian media said something on the order of this: "Although the Defense Minister has the utmost respect for individual Canadian soldiers and their military leaders and recognizes that it's unpopular politically back home, the fact remains that when a conflict is unpopular back home, the tendency is to be risk-averse, and as a result, Afghanistan is unstable and we have to send in the Marines."
And then, of course, the U.S. is actually sending in Marines. One might be forgiven for wondering whether they might be needed elsewhere (hint: Iraq). However, the U.S. is tops in military strategy, right? Uh-huh. Tippity-tap, tippity-tap.
Today, Gates clarified further that he never meant to make anybody mad. They're not at all dissatisfied with the work that NATO forces have been doing since 2001, when Afghanistan was bombed into oblivion as retribution for the terrorist attacks on the U.S. World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And at the same time, they're STILL sending in 3500 or whatever Marines. Because there are still problems in Afghanistan and nobody can do it like the Marines.
But, gee, Gates didn't mean that anybody is doing a bad job or needs reinforcements. Just that it's necessary to send in Marines.
And today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper just smirked, because of course the whole hoopla was all just a misunderstanding. Robert Gates said so. The U.S. loves its friends, especially Canada! Tippity-tap, tippity-tap.
With friends like these...argh. It makes you want to clench your fist, doesn't it, Abe?
