I agree
alatar. Gandalf's primary mission in ME was to help it's people face the onslaught of Sauron. He was not there to assasinate the Dark Lord. He was not there to marshal all of the West under his command to face Mordor. He was simply there to prod and guide the leaders of Middle Earth so that they would have a chance of defeating Sauron.
He did make sure that the main players stayed alive, and also took on any immediate threat that would have spelled doom for the whole thing. (Such as the Balrog, or forcing Frodo to start his journey.) Basically, he always seemed to take a counselor's approach (on the sidelines) to the war, until things started to get ugly. Then he would rush in at the last minute and save the day. Very dramatic.
