Although we do have a civilian government and the people's matter opinions should be heard and matter, decisions regarding the safety and welfare of troops and security in Afghanistan and iraq should be reserved to experts on the ground who have better understanding of the local circumstances.

I disagree with the decision to have a withdrawal date, or even a planned withdrawal date when we haven't had the time to see the perfomance of the troop increases. Withdrawal should be based on performance and results, so far we haven't seen any changes in performance and results from troop increases becaues its been so soon.

Telling your enemy when, and at what stage you are going to leave doesn't break their will at all, in fact it gives them more incentives to have stronger will. because they know we're leaving. Giving out a planned withdrawal does little to bolster our will to fight, because we know we will be gone. It sends the wrong message to Nato, they have even less reasons to contribute troops to the fight