(assuming they had it there in the first place) and the presumed object of the exercise escaped to mountain fastnesses where he apparently reside to this day. Bin Laden was not captured and al-Qaida not destroyed ... mission not accomplished. Steele presumably didn't have space to go into the "poppy war" and what will/would replace the country's only source of hard currency (aside from aid). The "10,000 US troops who are not under Nato command" likewise are tantalizing, flitting in and then out again without explanation, although Steele surely could tell us much. That the US could "sabotage" UK commanders in Helmland, which is supposed to be a British theatre, speaks volumes about the situation Blair has landed British forces in. His prescriptions are doubtless the best that can be hoped for in the circumstances. We can assume that "Pashtun tribal elders reject Taliban ideology" is a reliable estimate, stemming from much time on the ground, and not idle speculation, likewise "There is no danger that the Pashtun-based Taliban will capture Kabul and the north again", and his supporting arguments make sense (e.g., "Removing the occupation and having locally chosen police would allow the elders to reassert control"). His final paragraph reiterates what has long been apparent, the numbing incompetence of the US government in its post-9/11 responses. In the White House security meeting after that, Rumsfeld turned his attention to Iraq and, reminded that al-Qaida were in Afghanistan, famously said "there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan, there are