No firm withdrawal date, says Gates
Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, explained - during his press conference with Hervé Morin, the French Minister of Defense, that there was no withdrawal date. "We would all like to have a situation where we could say: our mission in Afghanistan is over and we can bring our troops home. I don't see that happening in the near future. And I think it's impossible to put a date on which we could firmly say that all the troops are leaving". The important thing, he added, is the "review of the strategy which is underway, on the American side, and in consultation with our partners. I think we'll have a much better idea of how to proceed when this review is complete." (1).
As for Hervé Morin, he clarified that he had not spoken of a withdrawal date. "We will stay as long as necessary. (...) But that does not mean that we will stay forever. (...) We need a development process. We need the means and the capacity to enable the Afghanistan to be truly able to take control of its own security, in its various facets. And we also need (...) to set milestones for ourselves, with clearly defined objectives, on the various topics".
NB: I still think that a 2011-type withdrawal date would be a reasonable objective and would justify an additional, truly temporary effort towards a exit... slowly.
(1) "We would all like to have a situation in which our mission in Afghanistan has been completed and we can bring our troops home. I do not see that happening any time in the near future. And I think it's impossible to put a date on when you might firmly say all the troops are coming out. I think that the objectives that we have and milestones, in terms of measuring achievement of those objectives, is really a principal focus of the strategy review that is under way, on the American side, and where we have been consulting with our partners. And I think we will have a much better idea of the way forward, at least as far as the United States is concerned, when that review is complete."
Photo: US Department of Defense
