SecDef Gates: Yeah, The Administration Has Been Unclear On Afghan Withdrawal Statements But We've Been Perfectly Clear

No the headline doesn't make any sense but neither does anything from this administration when it comes to next year's deadline withdrawal date checkpoint transition date or whatever they call it.

One GOP senator said, “[Gates] said he was frustrated with the mixed messages coming from the administration and was doing everything he could to fix that. But he did not say what the official position is.”

The senator said he and his colleagues don’t know how many troops will be withdrawn or whether the goal to begin withdrawing troops next July is fixed or depends on conditions in the war theater.

...Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, said Gates acknowledged that some in the administration have sent mixed messages about the withdrawal deadline but the secretary told Republicans that Obama has always been clear about his policy.

“There’s been no confusion within the administration over policy because the president has been very, very clear,” said Morrell.

The spokesman said July 2011 marks “a transition in our military posture — it doesn’t mean we’re running for the exits.

“How the drawdown proceeds and from where and how many forces will be determined by conditions on the ground,” he said. “It won’t be driven by politics or arbitrary determinations.”

See? Clear as mud.

Look at the last bit. It presumes that there will be a draw down starting around July 2011, the only question is how it will proceed. But that's a time line based plan not conditions based. Yet in the same breath he says it will be conditions based and not on "arbitrary determinations".

Of course Sheriff Joe, when he's not telling "withdraw now" Congressmen to keep it up is saying, hell yes we're bugging out.

Interesting quote in that second article from Gates himself just a month ago.

"We clearly understand that in July of 2011, we begin to draw down our forces," Gates said. "The pace with which we draw down and how many we draw down is going to be conditions-based."

I hope that helps clear things up and puts the fear of God in al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Liberals are forever crying about their message problems. More often then not they have a policy they'd like to hide problem.

posted by DrewM. at 05:32 PM

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