Pres Obama's "timetable is more aggressive than some military advisers had urged."

[ClarkUSA]

President Obama plans to tell the nation Wednesday night his "surge" of 30,000 troops sent to Afghanistan beginning in late 2009 will be withdrawn by September of next year... In his sixth address to the nation, Mr. Obama is expected to say about 5,000 troops will begin coming home this summer with an additional 5,000 troops by the end of this year. And roughly 20,000 additional troops are expected leave by September, 2012, the sources said. That would still leave about 70,000 troops in Afghanistan - roughly twice as many troops as when Mr. Obama took office in January 2009.

That timetable is more aggressive than some military advisers had urged. Mr. Obama made the final decision Tuesday after weighing options presented to him by General David Petraeus, his top commander in Afghanistan.

Withdrawing the troops by September 2012 is slightly earlier than what had been reported... The September 2012 withdrawal date would mean that large numbers of troops would be coming out of Afghanistan during the summer of 2012 fighting season which stretches from spring to fall.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20073385-503544.html#ixzz1Q2JMJruH

Furthermore:

This "withdrawal of US forces in Afghanistan" is "the first of its kind since the US and NATO officially entered Afghanistan nearly a decade ago."

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/0622/What-Afghans-think-about-President-Obama-s-troop-drawdown

Thank you for standing up to General Patraeus and other Pentagon chiefs, President Obama. You are a great leader in these troubled times.