As a Democrat who generally supports the Obama Administration's foreign policy, and with acknowledgement that the sources are a touch shaky at best, I thought I'd get out in front of some reports claiming that there is a generally agreed-upon framework to leave 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after the 2014 drawdown agreement.
10,000 troops, in Afghanistan, and any 'permanent bases' that would mimic those in Japan/Korea/Germany etc in size are unacceptable and not really in keeping with the spirit of your stated intentions, Mr. President.
The article states that there are approximately 337,000 Afghani troops and police currently active in Afghanistan. If that number is true and remains static, 10,000 US troops would equal about a 34:1 ratio for 'training' and 'guidance'....a ratio better than some public secondary schools' student-to-teacher ratio and far better than gen ed classes in most public universities.
10,000 is unnecessary and potentially more harm than good, Mr. President. It is my opinion that 10,000 troops will continue to let the Afghani military rely on US troops to turn away any significant resistance and conduct important remote raids, essentially holding their hands and not forcing them to get better at the difficult array of needs that Afghanistan internal security requires. 10,000 troops plus the existence of a large air/military base solely for US troops also smacks of imperialism; our presence and added security is not and will not be accepted and appreciated by a majority of the populace like could be argued for Japan, South Korea, etc. In addition, some military experts, per the article, say that truly 30,000 would be needed to do an effective job with counter-terrorism activities...and thus the 10,000 are either set up to fail or are unnecessary to begin with, since their #'s may not be enough.
President Obama, I do not oppose the 'drone program' as I look at things rather unemotionally when it comes to armed conflict. I support your preference to diplomacy and/or non-military measures of containment against those nations who can't seem to not agitate the majority of the world. Heck, I completely didn't expect EVERY US citizen to be out of Afghanistan by Jan 1st 2014 by any means. Still, you promised a near-complete drawdown from Afghanistan, both before and during the heavy campaign season, and it's a factor as to why you were elected. Per polling I believe my stance on your military policy especially is one that is supported by a majority of Democrats, but I personally promise to try to make you and your defense secretary's email boxes and outlook on the most popular Democratic blogsite on the web miserable if you slack on your campaigned-on Afghanistan policy.
Apologies if I'm getting excited about rumors put forth by an international paper and a Republican rag, but I think it was important to reiterate how I and many others traditionally on your side feel about this issue.