WH Backs Away from 2011 Afghan Withdrawal
The Associated Press reports:
The Obama administration is publicly moving away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the war in Afghanistan in an effort to de-emphasize the pledge to begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011, administration and military officials say.
The new policy will be on display next week during a conference of NATO countries in Lisbon, Portugal, three senior officials said. The administration hopes to introduce a timeline that calls for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan by 2014, the year when Afghan President Hamid Karzai once said Afghan troops could provide their own security.
The Pentagon also has decided not to announce specific dates for handing security responsibility for several Afghan provinces to local officials when it meets with NATO allies.
The shift came in part because U.S. officials realized that conditions in Afghanistan were unlikely to allow a speedy withdrawal. But U.S. officials said that a drawdown would still begin in July 2011.
"Of course, we are not going to fully transition to the Afghans by July 2011," said one senior administration official. "Right now, we think we can start in 2011 and fully transition sometime in 2014."
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