Obama's Afghanistan report shows troop withdrawal can begin in July

[kpete]

Source: USA Today

Obama's Afghanistan report shows troop withdrawal can begin in July

A status report on the Afghanistan war will show that the U.S. can start withdrawing troops in July, and hand over security responsibility to the Afghans by 2014, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today.

President Obama and his national security team reviewed that report during a nearly two-hour meeting today, Gibbs said.

Since the injection of more troops, "there has been some important progress in halting the momentum of the Taliban in Afghanistan," Gibbs said.

Gibbs also said the report will reflect both progress and remaining challenges, including Afghanistan governance and safe havens for terrorists in neighboring Pakistan.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/12/obama-set-to-deliver-progress-report-on-afghanistan/1

[savalez]

1. Good. thx kpete.

[Johnny Harpo]

2. The Sooner The Better....

Afghanistan is a lose-lose situation and not worth any more American G.I.lives.

[Tanelorn]

3. Why wait. The 'war' is lost.

[bemildred]

4. Heck, it could begin now. nt

[LiberalFighter]

5. They really need to maintain the bodies we have over there.

For every soldier brought back replace them with the likes of Windbag, Cry Beck, Weepy BOehner, etc.

[Historic NY]

6. Karzai is now accusing NATO & US of being the enemy..

<snip>
President Karzai’s erratic and unpredictable behavior has exasperated American officials and vastly compounded the difficulty of bringing basic government services to areas the military has cleared of insurgents, which is a key element of Mr. Obama’s strategy for winning popular support for the U.S.-led effort. Mr. Karzai has thwarted efforts to root out corrupt officials in his government, including his younger brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the governor of Kandahar province who is widely suspected of being a major narcotics trafficker. Earlier this year he also blocked an Afghan anti-corruption unit’s investigation of a top aide and ordered the man released with all charges dropped. More recently, he infuriated U.S. officials by barring the private security contractors who guard State Department and development personnel from operating in the country, potentially bringing thousands of reconstruction projects to a halt. To top it all off, he’s been known to indulge in fits of pique in which he accused NATO and the U.S. of being as much enemies of Afghanistan as the Taliban.
<snip>


http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/2010/12/americas_longest_war.html

[Downwinder]

7. History has shown that the way out of Afghanistan

is more dangerous than the way in.

[jaysunb]

8. Obama's Afghan war review will support July troop reduction

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's Afghanistan war review will conclude the United States has made enough security gains to begin withdrawing troops in July, but the findings will also emphasize lasting troubles, from Afghanistan's ability to serve its people to Pakistani havens for extremists.

In a detailed preview of statements Obama will make Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the yearlong review of Obama's war plan will, essentially, offer no surprise. The president plans to stick with his pledge to start drawing home troops next summer after ordering one year ago that 30,000 more troops be sent to Afghanistan to blunt the Taliban's momentum. The goal of coalition forces is to shift control to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.



Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/12/obamas_afghan_war_review_will.html

[Arctic Dave]

9. Shit, let's call a win right now and get the fuck out.

If we leave now or in three years it won't make a hill of beans difference.

[bluestateguy]

10. I think it will be a very token withdrawl

Like maybe 500 to 1000 troops.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

[obxhead]

11. Troop rotations will likely demand a draw down regardless of

anyones desires to maintain troop levels.

[Bragi]

12. What does "halting the momentum of the Taliban" really mean?

Kind of an interesting phrase. I think it can be decoded to mean that: "the Taliban's military victories are increasing at a rate less than before, though they are still winning the war."

[No Elephants]

13. Supposedly, we were down to 100 Taliban long ago. So, what changed?

We down to 98 now?

[jefferson_dem]

14. Afghan Report Sees July Troop Pullouts Despite Perils

Source: NYT

By HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON— A review of President Obama’s strategy for the war in Afghanistan concludes that American forces can begin withdrawing on schedule in July, despite finding uneven signs of progress in the year since the president announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops, according to a summary made public Thursday.

The summary said the United States continues to kill leaders of Al Qaeda and diminish its capacity to launch terrorist attacks from the region. It cited some signs that the United States and its allies have halted or reversed inroads by the Taliban in Afghanistan and strengthened the ability of Afghan forces to secure their country, but acknowledged that the gains are fragile and could be easily undone unless more progress is made towards hunting down insurgents operating from havens in neighboring Pakistan.

The report is the first full-scale assessment of Mr. Obama’s strategy, and was once portrayed by the administration as critical to decisions about the course of the conflict and the pace of the exit by the United States from Afghanistan. But the White House has been playing down the report’s importance for months, even as it continues to balance pressure from the military for time to allow the troop surge to work and pressure from many Democrats — some inside the administration — to start showing next year that Mr. Obama is serious about winding down the nine-year conflict.

The summary shed little light on the scale of any troop withdrawal next year, which the administration says will be determined by conditions on the ground.

The five-page unclassified overview of the review describes both progress and challenges only in general and restrained terms, avoiding outright criticism of Pakistan for failure to do more to confront extremists on its soil and the Afghan government for corruption and inconsistent support for American efforts to secure key areas of the country.

Mr. Obama will formally present the Afghanistan strategy review Thursday morning at the White House. He will be joined, administration officials said, by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes

[Robb]

15. Can't catch a break, can he?

If this admin shows any hesitance with the July 2011 timeline, they front-page him as "waffling" or "backing away from a promise."

He sticks to it, and he's suddenly downplaying a "once-critical" report on security. :D

[MadBadger]

16. I heard a few weeks ago that Obama was pushing this back to 2014

What was all that about?

[Javaman]

17. Obama: Afghanistan troop withdrawal process to start next year Nov. 20th 2010

President Obama today repeated his pledge to start the process of withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July, and expressed confidence that the Afghans will be able to take responsibility for their security in 2014.

Whether all U.S. troops can be withdrawn in 2014 remains to be seen, Obama added, saying it depends on how well things are going against Taliban insurgents.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/11/obama-holds-nato-news-conference/1

(I won't believe it until they are out of country and home)

[dflprincess]

18. Weasel words

I suppose it will all depend on who is making money off this extravaganza in 2014.

[Javaman]

19. Yup. nt

[sabrina 1]

20. What about the mercenary army that is now larger than

the U.S. military in Afghanistan?

All they have to do is leave a small contingent of troops to legalize the presence of that huge private army the U.S. now uses to protect its 'interests' in other countries.

The 'contractors' or mercenaries, according to the law, are legal only if they 'supporting the U.S. military. We will know whether this war is over or not, by whether ALL U.S. troops are removed from the country. Once that happens, then the huge mercenary army can no longer remain, legally.