Gates: 2011 not a 'drop-dead deadline' to leave Afghanistan; only a "MESSAGE TO KABUL"

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's July 2011 date for beginning to pull U.S. forces from Afghanistan is not a "drop-dead deadline" but a message to Kabul about the urgency of fielding an army to defend the country, senior U.S. officials said on Sunday.

"He was balancing a demonstration of resolve with also communicating a sense of urgency to the Afghan government that they must step up to the plate in terms of recruiting their soldiers, training their soldiers and getting their soldiers into the field," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS's "Face the Nation" program.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091206/pl_nm/us_afghanistan_usa

[mike_c]

1. also known as a convenient fiction...

...i.e., a bloody lie. If American troops are out of Afghanistan by 2011 I'll eat my hat.

[wtmusic]

2. Shhh don't tell Kabul that it's not a drop-dead deadline

'Kay? Are we together on this?

[Bjorn Against]

3. No matter how much some want us to believe otherwise, there is no exit plan.

Obama said in his speech that he will START pulling troops out in eighteen months, he never said anything about when all the troops will be out yet people want me to be happy that he has an "exit strategy". There is no exit strategy all we have is an escalation, and I am going to continue to protest this escalation. I have participated in four protests in just the last week and I have at least three more on my schedule for next week, I will not be silent about this deception that they call an "exit strategy".

[eleny]

4. Yeah, he said in 18 months we would begin to look at removing a small number of troops

I believe that was said on Meet the Press.

Between Gates and then Amanpoour's interview with Karzai, today's morning tv was an education.

[Bluebear]

6. Who will be educated though?

:(

[eleny]

7. In time, the body bags and caskets will teach everyone

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Oh, hell, just send him a check for $30bn and a nice Farewell card and forget the troops.

He'll get the message.

[Bluebear]

8. .

[G_j]

9. to all the cynics

right again.

[Bluebear]

11. :nodding:

[Subdivisions]

10. We.Will.Never. Leave. Afghanistan. n/t