U.S. forces to remain in Afghanistan beyond July 2011: Obama aides

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond July 2011, when the U.S. military is supposed to start reducing presence there, top aides to U.S. President Barack Obama said.

In appearances on all the major talk shows throughout Sunday, these aides clarified Obama's position after he announced on Dec. 1 to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and start pulling out U.S. forces in July 2011.

National Security Adviser James Jones told CNN's "State of the Union" that the July 2011 start of withdrawal was "not a cliff, it's a ramp" for beginning to turn over security responsibility to Afghan forces.

Noting the U.S. strategic interests in the region, including Pakistan next door, Jones said: "We're going to be in the region for a long time."

David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, said on "FOX News Sunday" that Obama's strategy "doesn't trigger a rush to the exits," while Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "there isn't a deadline."

"What we have is a specific date on which we will begin transferring responsibility for security district by district, province by province in Afghanistan to the Afghans," Gates said.

In Congress, Republicans generally backed Obama's deployment plan but complained that announcing the start of a withdrawal was a signal to the enemy of a compromised commitment.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate last year, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that a strategy must be flexible to succeed, rather than limited by a set timetable.

But Democrats said announcing the withdrawal date is the right thing to do.

On "FOX News Sunday," Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, called the July 2011 start of a withdrawal "a necessary signal to Afghan President Hamid Karzai."

"We're not going to make Afghanistan a protectorate of the United States. You have to change your government. You have to show that you are willing to stand up and fight for your own country," he said.

Obama delivered a prime-time speech to the nation on Tuesday night, laying out a strategy which calls for sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and starting pulling out U.S. forces in July2011.

As the public is turning negative toward the Afghan war and his fellow Democrats are increasingly vocal in their opposition to a troop buildup in Afghanistan, the decision is regarded as one of the most critical issues to shape his presidency and will be a tough-sell.