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STRATFOR "...the United States is exploring ways to accelerate the drawdown of its forces in the country. It is also clear that U.S. relations with Pakistan are deteriorating to a point where cooperation — whatever level there was — is breaking down. These are two intimately related issues. Any withdrawal from Afghanistan, particularly an accelerated one, will leave a power vacuum in Afghanistan that the Kabul government will not be able to fill. Afghanistan is Pakistan’s back door, and its evolution is a matter of fundamental interest to Pakistan. A U.S. withdrawal means an Afghanistan intertwined with and influenced by Pakistan. Therefore, the current dynamic with Pakistan challenges any withdrawal plan."
"Soon-to-be-retired Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, on his final tour of Afghanistan earlier this month, warned that it would be "premature" to make any significant changes to the military campaign in Afghanistan before the end of the year or until the United States can say that "we've turned the corner here in Afghanistan." "
Michael Yon: Afghanistan is making undeniable progress, but it could all unravel "Let's begin with a few facts. For the strategy we used, we never had enough troops in Afghanistan to defeat our enemies and stand up a civil society. It can be argued that today, we still do not have enough.
"Despite this, the coalition and the Afghans appear to finally be turning the tide in our favor, and a great deal of this can be credited to President Obama for deciding to send more troops. Unfortunately, the President has stated that we will begin bringing troops home this year."
"This puts him in a bind. To keep his word, the President may have to undermine the very success that he facilitated."
Karzai Isn’t Helping "Alls this makes one wonder if Karzai has a clue as to how tenuous support for continuing the fight in Afghanistan is in the United States. If the Afghan president’s goal was to undermine support for the U.S. role in the conflict, he couldn’t have said anything more likely to encourage anti-war activists and to discourage those who think the cause is still worthwhile."
Jonathan S. Tobin
Obama to announce big drawdown of Afghan troops "The reductions Petreaus wanted were largely symbolic - mostly support troops. He was making the argument that maximum pressure on the Taliban in the south for the rest of the summer is necessary in order for any withdrawal to impact our efforts as little as possible.
"But military concerns are hardly driving this decision. Obama is busy running a re-election campaign and can't be bothered with such mundane considerations. Most Democrats just want the war to go away by election day and the president will oblige them."
By Rick Moran in American Thinker
