Obama finalizes plan for troop drawdown in Afghanistan

[TomCADem]

Source: Associated Press

President Barack Obama will announce the critical next steps in America's decade-long war in Afghanistan on Wednesday, outlining both a plan to start bringing thousands of U.S. troops home next month and a broader withdrawal blueprint aimed at giving Afghans control of their own security in 2014.

But even as Obama finalizes those plans, there are deep divisions in his administration, with military leaders favoring only a gradual reduction in troops but other advisers advocating a significant decrease in the coming months.

Administration officials say Obama is still working through the details on how many troops will start leaving Afghanistan in July, his self-imposed deadline for beginning the drawdown. He is considering a range of options presented to him last week by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

* * *
Obama is expected to make Wednesday's announcement in Washington. On Thursday, he will visit troops at Fort Drum, the upstate New York military base that is home to the 10th Mountain Division, one of the most frequently deployed divisions to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43471826/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

[ccharles000]

1. k/r

yay finally

[Martin Eden]

2. "in 2014"

That's more than 2 years from now, and if I was a betting man I'd bet "the plan" being "finalized" now can easily go by the wayside as events transpire over the next 2+ years.

I don't see this as a major (or even perhaps a minor) shift in policy or in the notion that continuiing to invest our blood and treasure in Afghanistan will materially affect the long term outcome there or our national interests.

On second thought, extending our military mission in Afghanistan WILL affect our national interests -- for the worse. $billions spent in Afghanistan = $billions less for Americans in need at home.

[OnyxCollie]

3. How many contractors will remain there?

And how much will we continue to pay them?

[chill_wind]

4. 5000 this year. Another 5000 next year. Some 67,000 will remain

until... whenever. 2014?

An initial reduction of 5,000 troops would take place this year, followed by another 5,000 soldiers next spring, with the remainder expected to come out by next December, said a person with knowledge of the plan, who couldn't be named because the plan hasn't been made public. The drawdown's pace would be dictated by the rate at which Afghan security forces could replace the American units.

Some 67,000 U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan after the expected reductions. Most would leave by the end of 2014, when plans call for the Afghan government to assume full responsibility for the country's security.

Monday, June 20, 2011
Obama's Afghan drawdown plan takes shape

By Jonathan S. Landay and Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/20/116167/obamas-afghan-drawdown-plan-takes.html

[buckrogers1965]

5. Good news everyone

The troops are leaving Afghanistan... to be deployed back into Iraq. It is getting farcical.

[Kolesar]

6. Weak...eom

[Hissyspit]

7. Obama to Reveal Size of Afghan Troop Drawdown Wednesday

Source: AFP

Obama to reveal size of Afghan troop drawdown Wednesday

By Agence France-Presse
Monday, June 20th, 2011 -- 9:54 pm

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama will announce the size of his drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan on Wednesday, mapping out an endgame for a 10-year war that has exacted a fearsome human and financial toll.

Two administration officials said Obama would reveal the fruit of his deliberations on a pullback due to begin next month, in a pivotal moment for US war strategy and his own political prospects ahead of his reelection bid.

"The Afghanistan speech will be on Wednesday," one official said, on condition of anonymity, as Obama moved closer to a final decision on the size of the withdrawals and the future US footprint on Afghan soil.

The president must decide the pace and size of reductions to a 30,000-strong troop escalation which he ordered surged into the conflict in December 2009, a deployment which brought the US garrison to 100,000 soldiers.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/20/obama-to-reveal-size-of-afghan-troop-drawdown-wednesday

[DemReadingDU]

8. and where are these troops to be sent?

Libya? Yemen? Pakistan? Peacekeeping in the United States?

[Javaman]

9. Spin the DOD wheel of mystery!

They won't be coming home, that's for sure.

Just more rearranging of the deck chairs.

[Doctor_J]

10. Predict the time of day that Hate Radio declares this "giving in to terrorists"

8:00

9:00

10:00

Already did

[harun]

11. Pathetic.