HOW PATHETIC – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is one of the few grown-ups in the Obama administration, but even he has to be a foot soldier in the service of the imagery that this White House tries to create. 

So Panetta is now trying to spin our situation in Afghanistan, made worse by Field Marshal Obama giving our enemy a timetable for our withdrawal.  From AP: 

BEIJING — US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the US is concerned about the impact insider attacks are having on its forces in Afghanistan.

That's nice.

But he insisted Gen. John Allen, the top US commander there, is taking necessary steps to protect the force while still ensuring the US will be able to hand over security to the Afghans and be able to withdraw by the end of 2014.

Panetta did not specifically address the dramatic action taken Monday by Allen, as NATO decided to scale back its operations with Afghan security forces in order to lower the risk of them turning their guns on American and allied forces.

Can you imagine having to do that?  We have to be afraid of the very people we're entrusting with the future of their country.  Count this as another major Obama success.

Instead, he argued that the attacks do not mean the Taliban is getting stronger. "I think what it indicates is that they are resorting to efforts that try to strike at our forces, try to create chaos but do not in any way result in their regaining territory that has been lost," he told reporters during a press conference in Beijing with China's minister of national defense, Gen. Liang Guanglie.

Until now, US and NATO troops routinely conducted operations with their Afghan counterparts. But under the new order, such operations will now require the approval of a regional commander.

COMMENT:  Soon we'll probably be told that the attacks are the result of something seen on the National Geographic Channel. 

The fact is, when we move out in 2014, the Taliban will likely move right back in.  Who will stop them?  The loyal troopers in the Afghan army and police will see us leaving, and will know that we're not returning.  Why would they fight the Taliban?

As they say, the whole world is watching.

September 18, 2012