Democratic Underground - Thanks! Also, I was thinking the same thing as Andrew Sullivan:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/eikenberrys-stand.html#more

I suspect Eikenberry has given Obama the opening he needs to leave Afghanistan and refuse to commit more young Americans to the defense of a corrupt government and the prosecution of an unending war that no longer serves a core national interest for the US. If Obama does that, it will take enormous courage. It will reveal a strength of character and judgment that America and the world now need.

One other intuition: Obama has recently clearly been pondering the dreadful responsibility of sending soldiers to war. From the decision to witness the return of coffins at Dover to the un-scheduled solitary trip to Arlington and this week's emotionally cathartic ceremony at Fort Hood: these events, it seems to me, would concentrate any serious, ethical president's mind.

And I suspect Bob Gates is not that far apart from the minimalist position.

What Obama has been doing lately struck me as things John Kerry would have done had he been President (and something he does already as Senator from Mass.):

1. Going to Dover
2. Unscheduled stop at the graves of the fallen from Iraq & Afganistan at Arlington Cemetery (the CBS reporter tweeted that a "somber looking" Obama visited the graves).
3. Finally, Obama's extraordinary speech at Ft. Hood, which many think is his best speech since the Inauguration, showing that he gets what is at stake but also what has been sacrificed.

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