"Obama homed in on an Afghanistan pullout date"

[Clio the Leo]

Obama homed in on an Afghanistan pullout date

It started out as a projection from the military, intended only for the ears of the president and his top advisors. But in a war council meeting at the White House less than a month ago, Obama proposed making it public.

"Let's name that date," he said, according to participants.

And then on Tuesday, he did.

The date, July 2011, is when the Afghan troop buildup is supposed to be working well enough against the Taliban-led insurgency that some troops can start to come home.

Revealing that key marker on the U.S. military timeline has emerged as the most controversial component of the president's plan. It has attracted criticism from Capitol Hill and sown anxiety among allies, some unsure whether the timeline meant that the United States was planning to leave quickly or stay indefinitely.

It was also a contentious idea within the Pentagon. The date was first discussed as part of internal planning. The idea of sending a public signal to enemies and allies alike that the U.S. was already planning a pullout was of particular concern to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, a key member of the war council.

Gates backed the plan once he felt he had adequate assurances that the pace of the U.S. military withdrawal would be determined by commanders, based on the situation in Afghanistan.

Obama opted to take the highly unusual step, senior aides said, because, in the end, administration officials believed the need to put tangible pressure on the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan outweighed any potential cost.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-obama-afghan4-2009dec04,0,4528982.story

While I think our reaction to a deadline is part of the reason for promoting it, what I think we're failing to understand is that it has EVERYTHING to do with the Afghan government.

He was right on the Iraqi pullout deadline....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbq8aD_KAzc

.... and I think he'll be right on this one as well.

[Schema Thing]

1. Well yeah, Karzai and Co. are corrupt, not stupid.

[treestar]

2. I've been reading DU and learned that the date is just a lie

:sarcasm:

K&R

[Clio the Leo]

5. Yeah but the lie is a lie....

... therefore, I cannot choose the goblet that is in front of me. :)

[Cha]

3. And, what was that

propaganda piece about the Generals rolling over Pres Obama?

Thanks for the link, Clio.

[Clio the Leo]

6. On a day like today...

.... it's hard to doubt his judgement, huh?

[Cha]

8. I studied the man for two years..

I'm not going to start not believing what he says just bc some posters on the internet are spreading propaganda.

[Cant trust em]

4. What a great article.

Obama is a smart man. I hope this works.

[mike_c]

7. smoke and mirrors....

We all began dying the day we were born, but that doesn't mean our lives were over then. By the same token, beginning a pullout is meaningless until the withdrawal is complete, and that will likely never happen, unless it happens like it did in Vietnam. The U.S. is still deeply militarily entrenched in nearly every country we've fought wars in for the last hundred years EXCEPT for Vietnam, which was "lost."

If U.S. troops are out of Afghanistan in ten years I'll eat my hat. We'll be "protecting our interests" there for generations unless we go the way of the Soviets. That's what empire is about.

[timeforpeace]

9. It's fortunate that the terrorists won't be told the pull-out date and thus just bide their time.

[Clio the Leo]

10. Gates says that's the ideal scenario .....

.... they just sit on their hands (And their IED's) while we build a force to fight against them (even faster without resistance) and then leave.

Yeah, bad idea. :crazy:

[frylock]

11. same argument the bushies made..

was it acceptable to you then?