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| Afghanistan |
| Lisbon: Nato leaders endorse Afghanistan 2014 withdrawal date |
| 2010-11-20 |
| Nato leaders have endorsed on Saturday a plan to start handing Afghan forces command of the war next year with the aim of ceding full control by 2014 "We have launched the process by which the Afghan people will once again become masters in their own house," Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference following a summit of Allied leaders in Lisbon. Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, signed the plan along with Mr Rasmussen and Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. Earlier alliance leader suggested that Nato’s plan to wind down its combat mission was not set in stone, casting doubt on David Cameron’s fixed deadline for a British withdrawal. Despite Western leaders’ eagerness to leave Afghanistan, the Nato timetable remains conditional, dependent on the ability of the Kabul government to secure the country against the Taliban. The Obama administration made clear that 2014 was only “an aspirational goal” and Nato’s secretary-general warned the West must remain committed in Afghanistan “as long as it takes”. A senior Nato official also warned of “inevitable setbacks” in the work to complete transition by the end of 2014. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 Maybe because the Viet Cong weren't actively attempting to blow up US civilians at home. Nor was Vietnam positioned such that its fall added a cornerstone to a strategically important arc of such activities. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-11-20 12:48 |
| #4 Why don't we just declare victory and get out, just like we did in Viet Nam? |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-11-20 12:31 |
| #3 He still can't explain why this is so dashingly important to get START done before the lame-duck is over. Posted by: Frank G Russian deal making possibly? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-11-20 12:30 |
| #2 as usual - his 5 minute response was gibberish. He still can't explain why this is so dashingly important to get START done before the lame-duck is over |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-11-20 12:08 |
| #1 Oblablah is speaking right now then takes a question from a pre-selected "journalist": Margaret Warner of PBS. "What message do you think all the super-special important stuff you've done here (PBUH) sends to those awful Mitch McConnell-led Rethuglican neanderthals?" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-11-20 12:07 |