We will have to wait until Tuesday night, when the President reveals his conclusions at the West Point military academy, for a precise breakdown of his objectives. But Mr Obama has dropped heavy hints about what his overall strategy will be. In essence, the plan is to destroy the enemy and bring the troops home, all within a clearly defined time-frame. Or, to use the phrase coined by the US press, a policy of “escalation and exit”.
Before leaving Washington to spend Thanksgiving with his family, Mr Obama declared that he wanted to “dismantle and destroy” al-Qaeda’s terrorist network, and end the threat posed by Islamist militants to the West. No one is going to argue with that.
Yet at the same time, White House officials stress that the President will place a strong emphasis on his intent to withdraw troops at the earliest opportunity. As the US enters the ninth year of its military involvement in Afghanistan, Robert Gibbs, the White House press spokesman insists: “We are not going to be there another eight or nine years.”
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