DESK DISCUSSION - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates meets with U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 4, 2011. DOD photo by Cherie CullenSteeper Pullout Is Raised as Option for Afghanistan -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden.
These new “strategic considerations,” as some officials call them, along with a desire to find new ways to press the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to get more of his forces to take the lead, are combining to create a counterweight to an approach favored by the departing secretary of defense, Robert M. Gates, and top military commanders in the field. They want gradual cuts that would keep American forces at a much higher combat strength well into next year, senior administration officials said.
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My Comment:For the U.S. administration, the war is Afghanistan has become political .... especially after the death of Osama Bin Laden. With very little reason to remain, calls for an American withdrawal from the U.S. are going to escalate .... my prediction .... by this time next year these calls will be a crescendo, and with the election just a few months away, the groundwork is being laid now for the eventual announcement that U.S. forces will leave earlier than what was promised.