Obama Opts for Faster Afghan Pullout

[t0dd]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to announce Wednesday evening that he will order the withdrawal of 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year, and another 20,000 troops, the remainder of the 2009 “surge,” by the end of next summer, according to administration officials and diplomats briefed on the decision. These troop reductions are both deeper and faster than the recommendations made by Mr. Obama’s military commanders, and they reflect mounting political and economic pressures at home, as the president faces relentless budget pressures and an increasingly restive Congress and American public.

The president is scheduled to speak about the Afghanistan war from the White House at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Mr. Obama’s decision is a victory for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has long argued for curtailing the American military engagement in Afghanistan. But it is a setback for his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field book on counterinsurgency policy, and who is returning to Washington to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

Two administration officials said General Petraeus did not endorse the decision, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who is retiring, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reluctantly accepted it. General Petraeus had recommended limiting initial withdrawals and leaving in place as many combat forces for as long as possible, to hold on to fragile gains made in recent combat.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23prexy.html?hp

[harun]

1. Not enough.

[TheWraith]

12. It's never enough for some people. nt

[frylock]

13. some people pay attention and realize that there will still be more in country..

after obama's vaunted drawdown then when that awful war-mongering GWB left office.

[Dappleganger]

19. It's never enough until the last one is HOME.

I'll never apologize for saying that.

[Chef Eric]

20. Yeah, like the ones who are well-informed. nt

[Bandit]

21. Certainly not for me....We shouldn't have a single troop in Afghanistan

Our stated mission is accomplished. Now they are changing the mission to "nation building" and no longer counter terrorism....

[TheWraith]

22. No shock you're not happy, if you believe they're saying things nobody has ever said. nt

[No Elephants]

29. As long as "they're" saying things someone has ever said, no one should be unhappy?

Now, there]'s a standard anyone could excel under!

[ImNotTed]

25. Indeed

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1345057

[No Elephants]

27. While every crumb, no matter how deceptively phrased, always seems to be more than enough for

other people.

That's what makes a horse race, I guess.

Or something.

[trud]

2. whoop dee do, thanks for nothing

Still leaves many many troops in place.

[Angry Dragon]

3. Two things that interest me

'Gen. David H. Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field book on counterinsurgency policy'
If he wrote the book either he did not read it or it is flawed


'10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year, and another 20,000 troops, the remainder of the 2009 “surge,” by the end of next summer'

A post by amborin today has a graph showing that withdrawing 30,000 troops, it will still leave twice as many as when he took office

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1343988

[Poll_Blind]

23. You're not seeing things- this CNN blog post has a different graph showing the same thing:

HERE

PB

[ClarkUSA]

4. Hmm... so Hillary "reluctantly accepted it"? Well, thank goodness she isn't President and CIC.

These troop reductions are both deeper and faster than the recommendations made by Mr. Obama’s military commanders
... it is a setback for his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus... Two administration officials said General Petraeus did not endorse the decision, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who is retiring, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reluctantly accepted it. General Petraeus had recommended limiting initial withdrawals and leaving in place as many combat forces for as long as possible...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23prexy.html

Hillary also sided with Gen. McChrystal's demand for 80,000 more surge troops for 10+ years. :puke:

Glad Bob Gates is leaving, too. Time for a change.

[DonCoquixote]

16. don't say that

So many here chime in with the whole "Hillary was a liberal unlike Obama and she woulda fought" meme

[sendero]

31. And God knows..

.. we should listen to the military commanders, notwithstanding the FACT that they have been wrong, wrong and wronger for 10 fucking years of this bullshit and they are never accountable for their ridiculous prognostications that NEVER come to pass.

[stormpilot]

5. 100,000

would be a nice start!

[CountAllVotes]

6. note ....

Not that it matters anyway because 10,000 of these soldiers won't be "coming home". They'll be going to another war somewhere else or you can be assured that they meaning "them" will start another war somewhere to assure that the 10,000 troops will still be "employed" whatever that means. :puke:

[bemildred]

7. So, at the end of his first term we will be right where we started. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

8. It's called progress...

doncha know :puke:

[lib2DaBone]

9. Mr. Obama thinks we are stupid....

[canoeist52]

10. It's lile jacking up the price by 50% then next week having a 50% off sale.

[ChrisBorg]

11. I guess it really is his war now.

[KoKo]

18. He owns it and by default ...WE DEMOCRATS OWN THAT WAR and the New One in Libya

..and the others that the NeoCons had on the Drawing Board when Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld started all of this. What has CHANGED. WERE IS THE CHANGE? WHERE IS THE FUCKING CHANGE!!!!!!

[No Elephants]

28. It became his war in January 2009.

[Arctic Dave]

14. It is not a reduction if you are still at the same place when you started.

[Demeter]

15. So, Slower Is the New Faster?

[gkhouston]

34. Yes. All you have to do is find someone to point to who'll advocate

for an even slower pace and then hey, presto! you're faster. :eyes:

[KoKo]

17. Will it be over the 10,000 troops thats been forecasted?

Maybe l5,000 or at the High End, 20,000?....yet that leaves more than were there when he took office. And Osama bin Laden is DEAD! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! ...or OCCUPATION FOREVER?

[unkachuck]

24. not good enough....

....he's just another war-monger....can't support war-mongers....

[Divine Discontent]

26. inadequate...

end the wars

[Tx4obama]

30. Obama's pulling out ONE THIRD of the troops from Afghanistan and folks are still bitchin' n/t

[harun]

32. Obama's the one that put that third there. If I light my house on fire

and then put it out myself are people suppose to call me a hero?

[Nossida]

33. So 30K? US Troops out?

To be promptly replaced by 30+ thousand
Blackwater Xe Mercenaries.