Hagel: U.S. To Plan For Orderly Withdrawal From Afghanistan

[ProSense]

Hagel: U.S. To Plan For Orderly Withdrawal From Afghanistan

The Department of Defense is making plans for an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan should the United States not keep any troops there past 2014, Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday.

"This is a prudent step given that President Karzai has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign the Bilateral Security Agreement, which would provide DoD personnel with critical protections and authorities after 2014," Hagel said in a statement. "I appreciate the efforts of General Dunford and our military leaders to provide flexibility to the President as we work to determine the future of our presence in Afghanistan. "

"As the United States military continues to move people and equipment out of the Afghan theater, our force posture over the next several months will provide various options for political leaders in the United States and NATO," he added. "And during this time DoD will still continue planning for U.S. participation in a NATO-led mission focused on training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces, as well as a narrowly focused counterterrorism mission."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hagel-u-s-to-plan-for-full-withdrawal-from-afghanistan

Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024555346

[TwilightGardener]

1. To be clear, he's not saying we're withdrawing, just that Obama ordered plans in place

to do so if that ends up being the decision. Lest anyone get too excited.

[ProSense]

2. Yes, that's clear. n/t

[TwilightGardener]

3. I got excited by the headline, LOL.

Well, it's a step in the right direction, anyway.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. After 13 years of losing the war you'd think they'd already have a plan.

Ya' think?

[ProSense]

5. Didn't some people believe the plan was to stay forever?

Anyone who believed that should see this as a sign that may not be the case, don't you think?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. It may have been until they finally realized that they lost another war.

Although they're still too cowardly to admit it. And, are clinging to the drone wars too prove that they didn't really lose.

[ProSense]

8. Then maybe that's why they're revising the plan, huh?

Why are some people always disappointed when the finally get their way?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. I'm just pointing out that the brilliant politicians and generals clung to a "plan" that failed.

And, should be held accountable for doing so.

[msongs]

10. a plan is yet more cheap talk, it is not actually withdrawing. more talk vs actual action nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. They want to stay. Karzai is giving them headaches, though.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/world/asia/afghan-pact-kerry-apology-.html

<snip>

After a war that stands as the longest in American history, the security agreement defines a training and counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan lasting at least 10 more years and involving 8,000 to 12,000 troops, mostly American.

Despite the sometimes harsh criticism from Afghan officials during the negotiations, the agreement includes concessions that the Obama administration could not win from Iraq during a similar process in 2011, leading to the final withdrawal of American troops there.

Now, the United States has at least an initial agreement from Afghan officials that American soldiers will not face Afghan prosecution in the course of their duties. And United States Special Operations forces will retain leeway to conduct antiterrorism raids on private Afghan homes — a central American demand that Afghan officials had resisted and described as the last sticking point in negotiations.

<snip>

Karzai is now refusing to sign this agreement. If we leave, it's because they wanted us to leave, not because we wanted to.

[ProSense]

14. I know...same as the end of the Iraq war. n/t

[Coyotl]

7. That means the daily protests will stop too. Corvallis vigil: 10 years in the trenches

Corvallis vigil: 10 years in the trenches
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/corvallis-vigil-years-in-the-trenches/article_56c6973c-f23a-11e0-abc5-001cc4c03286.html
October 09, 2011 10:00 am • By BENNETT HALL, Corvallis Gazette-Times

Every day since the start of the Afghan War, a dedicated group of Corvallis protesters have waged a battle for peace

Almost every day at 4:50 p.m., Ed Epley fires up his 1961 Volkswagen microbus and heads downtown for his standing 5 o'clock appointment.

Epley is a regular member of the daily peace vigil outside the Benton County Courthouse, and he doesn't want to be late. He knows the others are counting on him to pull up to the curb in his ancient VW, the back piled high with protest signs.

"That's not what I intended the bus's last days to be," Epley admitted. "But that's pretty much all I use it for is to store the signs."

It's probably not how he envisioned spending his retirement, either. But for the 74-year-old Epley and a dozen or so other dedicated regulars, the vigil has been an integral part of their lives for the past 10 years. ....................

http://www.jqjacobs.net/politics/impeach/
Peace Demonstration at the Benton County Courthouse.

The ongoing Peace Demonstration at the Benton County Courthouse began on the day
the bombing in Afganistan started. It is held daily from 5-6 pm, seven days a week.

[Comrade Grumpy]

11. Good. Now just go ahead and implement it. n/t

[former9thward]

13. I wonder who will be the last person to die in this "orderly withdrawal."

I wonder how their family will feel. I wonder if Obama will think that death "was worth it"?