When, and under what conditions, American troops can leave Afghanistan depends in no small measure on Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV, who is spending a second Christmas in Kabul away from his three young children. As the leader of the NATO training mission, he is charged with fielding a competent army and national police force that (in theory) will eventually replace American and NATO troops.

Like much of what is happening in Afghanistan, this is a blurry picture. President George W. Bush never invested the resources to build a serious Afghan security force, so General Caldwell had minimal time to make maximum effort when he took over one...]]>