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August 12, 2010

Military Officials to Push for Delayed Afghan Withdrawal
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Top US military officials, meanwhile, are preparing to lobby for a
delayed withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US has set a target date for
starting to pull out troops next summer. But the Washington Post reports
the new Afghan war commander, General David Petraeus, is taking steps to
emphasize developments on the ground that "would make a rapid withdrawal
unwise." Summarizing the military’s argument, a senior administration
official said, "While we’ve been in Afghanistan for nine years, only in
the past twelve months or so have we started doing this right, and we
need to give it some time and think about what our long-term presence in
Afghanistan should look like."



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