US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Visits Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN - MARCH 09: US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (L) is welcomed by Royal Air Force Brigadier General Malcolm Brecht (R) upon arrival at Kandahar Air Base on March 9, 2010 in Afghanistan. Gates held talks with commanders on a major ongoing offensive in southern Afghanistan and plans to move against the Taliban in Kandahar. He called a recent operation in the Marjah area of Helmand province "only one of many battles still to come in a much longer campaign focused on protecting the people of Afghanistan." (Photo by Jim Watson - Pool/Getty Images)