Apparently, it's the last part that has our NATO allies spewing coffee as they figure out what is going on:
European officials here in Munich said they understood the reason for the new milestone, which is to give the Afghans some time to adjust to having the combat lead while NATO forces are still present in large enough numbers to help them out, especially if there are bumps along the road.
But several NATO and European officials were shocked and some were even a little miffed that Panetta had made a major change in the messaging over the Afghanistan war without giving them a heads up.
Thank goodness the United States no longer makes unilateral decisions on the grave matter of war and peace.
If Europeans start pulling out of Afghanistan at a faster rate, you'll understand that they don't want to be the last out the door and perhaps aren't as confident that we'll still be holding the perimeter when they load up to leave.
Meanwhile, in unrelated news, Panetta found himself reassuring our NATO allies that we aren't planning on turning over ground security responsibility to the Europeans after we withdraw two Army combat brigades from Europe:
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reassured European allies on Saturday that Washington remains committed to their security despite an austerity drive, as NATO pushed for new ways for alliance members to maintain capabilities at lower cost.
Also of note, the Army brigade stationed in the US that we will dedicate to sending battalions to eastern Europe for training missions is also being earmarked to the NATO Response Force.
Which means that the effective combat power of the NATO Response Force will likely be one brigade. Sorry to be so cynical about NRF.
