Premature enthusiasm and premature talks

Gates struck a far more cautious tone than many military commanders (and analysts, and journalists, and bloggers...). Good for him! One concern about his visit to Now Zad, though. From the New York Times:

Marines had cleared the area so thoroughly for Mr. Gates's visit, his first walk through a market during wartime in Iraq or Afghanistan, that only a smattering of vendors offered anything for sale. "Glad to see your shop's open," Mr. Gates told a merchant selling potatoes and eggs, who was surrounded by shuttered neighbors.

I understand the public-relations value -- or at least the perceived PR value -- of the defense secretary visiting Helmand province. It's also a morale boost for the troops in Helmand after a few weeks of hard fighting.

But if Gen. Stanley McChrystal's new strategy is all about population-centricity... well, shutting down an entire village for a photo op doesn't sound very population-centric, does it?

Meanwhile, away from the statements of U.S. officialdom, a few not-so-encouraging stories out of Afghanistan from the last few days.

• Elders in Marja are angry about "looted shops, house searches, civilian casualties, arrests and instances of international forces using schools as military bases." They're also skeptical that the Afghan government will deliver basic services as promised.

• Zabul province doesn't have nearly enough international troops. I'm of two minds about this: On the one hand, Zabul isn't a population center; it has an even smaller population, and a less dense population, than Helmand province. That said, if NATO's goal is to secure southern Afghanistan, Zabul demands more attention: It's just up the road from Kandahar, and it sits along the border with Pakistan's Balochistan province, making it a key transit point for the Taliban.

• Finally, British foreign secretary David Miliband -- scheduled to deliver a speech on Afghanistan in Boston at 3:30 this afternoon -- reportedly wants Afghan president Hamid Karzai to accelerate his plans for reconciliation talks with the Taliban. I can't possibly see how premature negotiations will backfire!

We'll have more on Miliband's speech later this afternoon.