http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66548
Stars and Stripes December 9, 2009 McChrystal: ‘I don’t view July 2011 as a deadline’ By Leo Shane III WASHINGTON: The head of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan downplayed the president’s July 2011 goal to begin withdrawing troops and said he wouldn’t rule out delaying that timeline or even adding more troops to the new 100,000 end strength planned for the country. “I don’t view July 2011 as a deadline,” Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in testimony Tuesday before members of the House Armed Services Committee. “At that time, we’ll evaluate the time and scope of a possible drawdown,” a decision he called the “natural evolution” of the military mission. Both McChrystal, who also leads the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and Karl Eikenberry, leader of U.S. civilian efforts there, told lawmakers they support President Barack Obama’s plan to send about 30,000 more troops into the country.... McChrystal said he did not recommend the July 2011 withdrawal date.... McChrystal said he would not allow political considerations to influence his evaluation of progress over the next 18 months, and if additional forces are needed because of an increase in violence “then of course I would request it.” .... =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
