Robert Gates's final act: Slow Afghan drawdown

I hope Congress listens to someone that understands what is happening in Afghanistan. As much as I would like to see the troops leave, I want it to be done right. I don't want all of the lives lost to be for nothing. We must exit, but I want it to be done correctly.

As his final act before leaving the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is working to build support for what he is calling a “modest” drawdown in Afghanistan, even though a war-weary Capitol Hill wants more.

Gates, who retires June 30, is hoping that his 12th and final trip to Afghanistan will help steer the Washington debate subtly away from the number of troops that will come home next month — a figure that is almost certain to disappoint the growing number of Washington critics of the war.

Instead, the secretary wants to keep his foot on the gas — and, at the same time, give President Barack Obama political running room — with the “bookend”: Keep the promise to begin bringing home the 30,000 surge forces in July, then specify a date when they will all be home, and leave everything in between to commanders in the theater.

Gates, a wily Washington operator who took his first White House job 36 years ago, is being careful not to box in Obama — but, instead, to leave the commander-in-chief plenty of “decision space,” as they say in the military. But on an around-the-world farewell tour, Gates is bluntly arguing for patience in appearances and interviews.

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