The Prof
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today:
Analysis: White House prepares initial Afghan drawdown | Reuters
1. when the administration ESCALATED obama's war in november, 09, the prez promised a pulldown starting in july of this year
2. it is known that the white house is at odds with the pentagon, the prez preferring a larger withdrawal, the generals in favor of finishing the SURGE obama started
3. either way, it appears there will be some 90000 american soldiers remaining in those remote mountains on the moon
4. are we winning yet?
5. afghanization, anyone?
President Barack Obama, with Osama bin Laden dead and a fiscal crisis on his hands at home, looks set to announce an initial U.S. troop withdrawal from the costly Afghan war that could be larger than previously expected.
Some current and former officials say Obama could easily announce a pullout of at least 10,000 troops over the next year as the administration seeks to capitalize on gains against the Taliban in the south and the Navy SEAL raid last month that killed the al Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
At the start of this year, with violence raging after nearly a decade of war, a minimal pullout of less than 5,000 troops had been anticipated.
Obama has made no final decision and, as far as is known, has received no formal recommendations from the Pentagon about how many soldiers should be pulled starting in July from the 100,000-strong U.S. force in Afghanistan.
Obama, who sent 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan after a reassessment of the U.S. war strategy in late 2009, will confer with his inner circle and inform Americans in mid- to late June of how he plans to begin withdrawing U.S. forces. As the West looks to leave, Afghan forces are slated to slowly take over from foreign forces by the end of 2014.
Hostility is mounting in both parties toward the war, which now costs over $110 billion a year. Last week, the House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment that would have required Obama to intensify planning for a withdrawal.
Analysis: White House prepares initial Afghan drawdown | Reuters
1. when the administration ESCALATED obama's war in november, 09, the prez promised a pulldown starting in july of this year
2. it is known that the white house is at odds with the pentagon, the prez preferring a larger withdrawal, the generals in favor of finishing the SURGE obama started
3. either way, it appears there will be some 90000 american soldiers remaining in those remote mountains on the moon
4. are we winning yet?
5. afghanization, anyone?