Obama: Troop Withdrawal in 2011; Karzai: We'll Be Ready in 2024

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates, visiting Afghanistan and Iraq, found himself slapped in the face with reality:

"The trip’s snags played out through the week and across both theaters of war. Mr. Gates found himself grounded by weather in Kabul, stood up by the prime minister in Baghdad and startled by President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, who blurted out at a palace news conference that the Afghans would not be able to pay for their own security forces until 2024."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/world/13pentagon.html?hp

Curious. Obama told us in his long anticipated speech last week that American troops would depart the Afghan arena in mid-2011. However, Afghan Ambassador to the U.S. Said Tayab Jawad then declared that the Afghan Army would not be ready to tackle the Taliban for at least five years. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Gates attempted damage control by stating that in July 2011 100,000 American troops would still be in Afghanistan, and “some handful, or some small number, or whatever the conditions permit, will begin to withdraw at that time.” Now, Karzai is telling us that the Afghan Army will not be ready to take on the Taliban until 2024.

I'm glad to see that given the many months taken by Obama to reach a decision, he truly mastered the facts on the ground.

In today's New York Times, Maureen Dowd has harsh criticism of American involvement with the corrupt Afghani, Iraqi and Pakistani regimes, but refrains from criticizing Obama (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/opinion/13dowd.html).

My online response to Dowd's op-ed (if posted by The Times):

"It seems late to realize this, but Gates told reporters he had only recently learned the 'eye-opener' that the Taliban were able to attract so many fighters because they paid more. Generals in Afghanistan said the Taliban dole out $250 to $300 a month, while the Afghan Army paid about $120. So Gates has made sure that recruits get a raise to $240."

Although I oppose Obama's inane decision to expand the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan, Gates should not be stunned by the fact that the Taliban is paying its forces more than twice the amount paid to Afghan government soldiers. Rather, he should be asking who is funding the Taliban (Gates is apt to be even more shocked by this answer) and how this money is being transferred to the Taliban and from there to its troops. Eliminate the channels for funding the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and you cripple both organizations.