On Not Leaving Afghanistan

As I and others pointed out after the president's speech, using the term "vital national interest" to describe Afghanistan didn't exactly jibe with the notion that we would be walking away from the country in 18 months. And lo and behold, we're not:

"We will have 100,000 forces, troops there,” Mr. Gates said on ABC’s “This Week,” “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.”

“I don’t consider this an exit strategy,” he continued, “This is a transition.” He said it would begin in less-contested parts of Afghanistan before expanding to the most obdurate Taliban strongholds, largely in the south and east.

The White House used appearances on the Sunday talk programs to convey that the deadline would mark the start, not the end, of troop withdrawal. “2011 is not a cliff, it’s a ramp,” Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser, said.

Wherever one stands on the issue of the efficacy of timelines, it's pretty clear that the administration is actively walking back the idea that responsibility for Afghanistan is going to be handed over to Afghans any time soon.

(AP Photos)