Perilous:

For the second time in a month, we saw Defense Secretary Robert Gates making headlines — and raising hackles — last week by publicly faulting NATO for what it is doing, and not doing well enough, in Afghanistan. The public upbraiding of allies, especially those sacrificing lives, is risky. But Gates’ frustration is understandable given the need to fight a resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda with too few troops and too little aid.

Understandable, too, was the administration’s decision to send 3,200 marines to Afghanistan after the allies refused to meet the need. The administration and NATO have begun three top-to-bottom reviews of Afghanistan policy, but they won’t be completed for months and the threat is growing daily. When NATO took command in Afghanistan, many members expected to focus on development and stabilization, not combat. But the United States also made serious mistakes, including failing to deploy enough troops and shifting its attention to Iraq.

By this time next year, President Bush will be gone, along with Europe’s antipathy toward him. But it may be too late to salvage Afghanistan, especially if political unrest and a Taliban-Al-Qaeda surge in Pakistan causes a crisis there. Afghanistan is NATO’s first out-of-area mission. What happens to the alliance if it fails? — International Herald Tribune