Is Politics Driving the Early Exit from Afghanistan?

"KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban are not beaten, the peace process is bogged down in internal squabbles and Afghan security forces aren't ready to take control of the nation. Yet the U.S. and its partners are talking about speeding up — rather than slowing down — their exit from the war.
It's becoming dramatically clear that politics is driving NATO's war exit strategy as much or more than conditions on the battlefield.

Political calendars in the West were never supposed to influence the decision about when Afghan forces take the lead and allow international troops step back into support roles or leave altogether. The U.S., Afghan and other international leaders have said repeatedly that transition decisions would not be held hostage to international political agendas."

Read the rest of the story in "Analysis: Politics drives exit from Afghanistan", Associated Press, February 3, 2012.