Admiral Mike Mullen on Obama's Afghan war plan - 04 Dec 09 - Pt 2

Amid criticism from some US politicians that Barack Obama's mid-2011 deadline to begin withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan sends the wrong message to allies and foes, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, had defended the deadline.

The highest-ranking US military official tells Al Jazeera that there is no decision yet on "how many would come out or what the pace would be or when it would end - there is no deadline out there with respect to that".

"But," he tells Shihab Rattansi, the 18-month countdown "is meant to be a clear signal that the Afghans have to take control here as well".

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News & Politics

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• us
• afghan
• war
• plan
• admiral
• mike
• mullen
• interview
• aljazeera