Afghanistan Surge: What Can It Accomplish In 18 Months? -- Christian Science Monitor
The goal of the Afghanistan surge is limited: to break the Taliban's momentum by July 2011. Plenty of US troops will remain in Afghanistan after that to continue work on longer-term goals, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates Sunday.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday sought to address a fundamental misunderstanding of President Obama's Afghanistan timeline.
In all likelihood, the Taliban will not be routed nor will President Hamid Karzai's government be corruption-free by the time the US begins drawing down troops in July 2011. The goal of the surge is not to solve Afghanistan's problems in 18 months.
Read more ....
Update: Barack Obama’s deadline to bring troops home from Afghanistan starts to slip -- Times Online
My Comment: A better definition on the U.S. withdrawal date from Afghanistan is now being discussed .... bottom line .... it appears that we are going to be there far beyond the 18 months that was mentioned by the President in his West Point speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment