It was not a pretty sight: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, last week, accusing NATO allies of not doing nearly enough in Afghanistan. But beyond the finger-pointing, there is a much more serious issue. Unless the United States and Europe come up with a better strategy - and invest more money, attention and troops - the “good war” will go irretrievably bad.

There is plenty of blame to go around. President Hamid Karzai and his government are weak. Pakistan, with Washington’s acquiescence, has not done enough to root out Al Qaeda along Afghanistan’s border. One of the biggest problems is

that when NATO took command in Afghanistan, many members expected that most of the fighting would be over and their troops would focus on development and stabilization. Instead, they are increasingly taking casualties.

By the end of last week, Gates and European officials agreed that they would begin a much needed top-to-bottom review of their strategy. The review must look at everything: politics, development, counter-narcotics and security. It must find ways to improve coordination between NATO, Washington and Kabul. It must acknowledge that European and US troops will most likely have to remain there for many years. And it must be done quickly, before Afghanistan unravels even more.