Troop drawdown in Afghanistan expected to go slowly

[unhappycamper]

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2010/11/26/1049992?sac=Mil">Troop drawdown in Afghanistan expected to go slowly
By John Ramsey
Staff writer
Published: 07:12 AM, Fri Nov 26, 2010

NATO officials set a target of 2014 for the end of the 9-year-old war in Afghanistan, but they acknowledged that troops could remain in the country for years afterward.

Defense analysts say the public agreement, reached at a NATO summit in Portugal last weekend, indicates that the allied countries are committed to a long-term fight but not an open-ended one.

They say it's a public indication that President Obama's promised start of troop withdrawals next year will likely be minimal.

Scott Payne, senior policy adviser for the national security program at the think tank Third Way, said troop levels are at an apex and will slowly decrease over the next few years.

The U.S. has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. About 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq but are supposed to be out of the country by the end of 2011.


unhappycamper comment: Ka Ching!

[ixion]

1. It's very telling how they refer to these invasions as 'wars', and yet they're setting pull out date

as if they can predict the 'end' of the 'war'.

It says to me that it isn't a 'war' at all, and never has been.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. ...when nine years just isn't enough.

sad.