Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Meet the Press, to be aired today:
"We will have a hundred thousand troops there and they are not leaving in July of 2011. Some handful or some small number or whatever the conditions permit will begin to withdraw at that time."
That certainly sounds like a firm commitment to me, he said sarcastically.
I agree. But in the "which toe would you like to shoot off" category, this MAY be the least painful. But notice I said "MAY". We will see what we will see.
Look at it this way: His way forward pissed off almost every political stripe, so he *must* be doing something right.
Frank Rich nails it today - for all of Obama's logic and brainpower, he cannot solve the Rubik's Cube that is Afghanistan. So, he tried to please everyone - everyone except those of us who donated money to him and voted for him.