Afghan Endgame Blueprint To Be Unveiled This Week

President Obama’s start date for pulling some of the 100,000 U.S. troops out of Afghanistan — next July — now has an end date, as well: 2014, according to this morning’s New York Times. But if the 2011 date is squishy — and it is — so is the withdrawal date. Neither specifies how many will be coming out, or how fast: numbers and pace will be decided based on conditions on the ground at the time. And even if all combat troops come home from Afghanistan by 2014, thousands of trainers and advisers are likely to remain behind, just as is now happening in Iraq. Formal roll out of the blueprint comes later this week at a NATO summit session in Lisbon.