What’s with the date!

Why on earth did President Obama put a date on when the US troops will pull out of Afghanistan?! Where is the element of surprise there!

My understanding is that the element of surprise in military operations is a basic fundamental and the essence of successful combat. If that’s the case then announcing to the world when the US troops will pull out can only work against that premise. It also gives the enemy the opportunity to concentrate their efforts on areas where there are no troops presence or simply sit out (in hiding) the eighteen month wait for the the troops to pull out, then carry on with their attacks. Therefore announcing a timetable gives the enemy an opportunity to set their own timetable to work towards. So, was this announcement intentional and a deliberate tactic or a rookie mistake?

It took the president sometime to come to the decision of whether to deploying and when to deploy, three month to be precise. He then deployed 10,000 troops less than General McChrystal needs and asked for. Mr. Brown (a major ally in this operation) talked about a withdrawal timetable but he wisely did not put a date on when British troops will pull out, now he is left hanging. All of these give the impression that President Obama is working alone and on a personal timetable rather than an ally who council’s with his allies. It seems the focus is more on his popularity and around the 2012 elections’ timetable rather than what happens in Afghanistan.