CAVE CHECK - U.S. Marines and sailors search for Taliban caves and hiding spots from a mountain north of Golestan, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2009. The troops are assigned to India Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Chad J. PulliamWhat Does Afghan Timeline Mean? Depends Who's Asking -- McClatchy News
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is giving different explanations of its July 2011 deadline for the start of an Afghanistan troop withdrawal, assuring foreign officials that it applies only to the 30,000 to 35,000 additional U.S. troops that President Barack Obama is sending next year, but suggesting to Congress that it covers all U.S. forces.
The conflicting versions suggest that the administration is trying to reassure U.S. allies in the region and elsewhere that the U.S. won't cut and run, while telling a concerned American public, Congress and Democratic Party that it has an exit strategy.
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My Comment: The fact that different officials and military officers are saying different things on what will be the U.S. draw-down from Afghanistan tells me that the specifics for the "when and how" U.S. troops will leave will be dependent on what is happening on the ground in 2011. If this is the case (and I believe that it is), I expect the recent concerns on when U.S. soldiers will leave to die down until the beginning of 2011 .... by which then the debate will probably start all over again.
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