Mark Moyar writes in the Wall Street Journal about seemingly-subtle changes in how the U.S. prosecutes the Afghanistan war that can make an outsized difference. For instance:

The Pentagon must also be shaken from its bureaucratic lethargy and compelled to dispatch more suitable officers as advisers to the Afghan forces. Too often we have sent officers who lacked the personality or experience to influence their Afghan counterparts for the better.

As it happens, Defense Secretary Gates put the AUSA conference on notice yesterday that he’s not having that.

 There is, unfortunately, still a lingering view that advisory positions are second-tier jobs – an assumption that needs to be addressed through assignments and promotions. The advisory, train, and equip mission is a key role for the Army going forward, given that America’s security will increasingly depend on our ability to build the capabilities of other nations. These capabilities are all the more necessary considering the steep human, political, and financial costs of direct U.S. military intervention.

Naglism: catch it! If you want to ultimately limit U.S. involvement in building an Afghan state, you especially should support the Moyar/Gates/Nagl cri de coeur to, as they say, "work U.S. forces out of a job."