Tonight, at 7:00 p.m. Central, Americans will have the honor and privilege of, once again, viewing the President of our country, Barack Hussein  Obama, as he comes into our living rooms, against the  advice of the Pentagon, to  announce the withdrawal of up to 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by November next year, just  in time for the US presidential election.

As Pfc. Gomer Pyle, USMC, used to say:

Obama is making the withdrawal despite warnings from his military commanders that recent security gains are fragile, at best. The Pentagon is telling the CIC that he should keep troop numbers high until 2013.

American and British commanders in Kabul have privately expressed concern that the White House is now being driven by political rather than military imperatives, and they are puzzled by this.

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One of the British commanders told guardian.co.uk:

This is not something we feel entirely comfortable with.

The American people do not, either, mate.

Tonight’s nationally televised address, will be the sixth that Obama has given since his ascension to the throne of the Regime.  Obama’s speechifying is intended to mark the beginning of the end of American military deployment in Afghanistan, now sitting at- almost 100,000 troops.

The White House confirmed that the withdrawal will be “significant”.

Obama realizes that he must re-energize his Liberal base, while appealing to the so-called Independents (Moderates).  What better way to do that than to pull out of a war that has lasted 10 years and cost 1,522 lives?

Obama’s problem is the fact that NATO commanders, led by General David Petraeus, have explicitly told him what the risks are of withdrawing too many troops too soon, and they have also warned Obama there has been no advantage gained from taking out Osama bin Laden.

Maybe not.  But it sure did make Americans feel good.  But, I digress…

The military commanders had urged him to keep the bulk of the extra 30,000 troops he committed to the “surge” until the end of 2012 in place in Afghanistan, in order that a drawdown can begin in 2013. That would allow the military another couple of years to attack Taliban strongholds and target insurgent leaders.

Obama’s political advisers have backed a withdrawal that starts in July and proceeds steadily through the following months. This bunch believes that the slow yet steady improvements in security, combined with the killing of Osama bin Laden and U.S. success in dismantling much of the al-Qaida network in the country, give the president an opportunity to make larger reductions this year.  Just in time for the Presidential Election.Turning over control to Afghanistan’s leadership will begin on July 20 in five provincial capital cities and two provinces. The provincial capitals thave have been identified are Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, plus capitals from provinces in the west, east and north and most of Kabul, the nation’s capital. The northern provinces of Bamyan and Panjshir, which are largely peaceful (right now) will also start to transition to Afghan control.Obama had previously said that he wanted a “significant” withdrawal beginning in July, his self-imposed deadline for starting to bring U.S. troops home. His minions in the White House, however, have never confirmed that statement.Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has said he favored a “modest” withdrawal, changed his mind yesterday and remarked that Obama’s decision needed to incorporate domestic concerns about the war:

It goes without saying that there are a lot of reservations in the Congress about the war in Afghanistan and our level of commitment. There are concerns among the American people who are tired of a decade of war.

Per an Associated Press-GfK poll published last month, 80 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s decision to begin withdrawal of combat troops in July and end U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014. Just 15 percent disapprove.

However, according to rasmussenreports.com:

Forty-six percent (46%) of voters say if the Iraqi government formally requests troops to stay, the United States should leave some there after the end of the year.  Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree, but 21% are not sure.

So what is a Hahvahd-educated, Socialist Progressive POTUS, desperately trying to hold onto the most prestigious job in the world, supposed to do?

Unfortunately for Afghanistan and the rest of the Free World, Obama’s passion toward prosecuting the War on Terror is evidently taking second place to his re-election campaign.

In the Obama White House, Political expediency wins out over National Defense.