Today I read in the New York Times that US President Obama plans to set a time frame for withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan. Although some Republicans, among others, believe that doing so "shows weakness and blablabla", I say it's about time. Even better news is the fact that the withdrawal won't be tied to conditions on the ground, which means that they can't keep pushing back the date, like they've been doing in Iraq.
However, the time frame for the withdrawal from Iraq is set in stone (as much as anything political can be set in stone). Most of the troops will be out by next August, and Obama promises complete withdrawal by the end of 2011. Now we will see how true to his word this man can be.
The downside to all this is that "a significant American presence in Afghanistan [will] remain for a long while". Of course. Can't be leaving them unsupervised.
It seems like a positive step, though, if it actually happens.
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