Petraeus: Afghan drawdown faster than recommended

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WASHINGTON | Thu Jun 23, 2011 3:30pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said on Thursday he had recommended a slower drawdown than President Barack Obama had decided upon, but backed the decision and said no military commander in history gets "all the forces he would like to have, for all the time."

"The ultimate decision was a more aggressive formulation, if you will, in terms of the timeline than what we had recommended," Petraeus told a Senate hearing on his nomination to become CIA director.

"Again, that is understandable in the sense that there are broader considerations beyond just those of a military commander."

(Editing by Sandra Maler)
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Comments (1)
ej.mann wrote:
Why shouldn’t Obama make the final decision? With all of his military history and experience, he obviously IS the most qualified to run the military. Those damn Generals don’t have a clue. Only Obama knows. Thank God for his leadership. Tell them when we’re leaving, remaining troop strengths and all of the intelligence we gather. The enemies couldn’t possibly think use that information to their advantage.

What a disaster. This administration needs to go in 2012!

Jun 23, 2011 4:06pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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