Reading into Obama's Afghan withdrawal

US President Barack Obama announced a new strategy for Afghanistan on March 27, switching the focus of US military actions "to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida".

According to the new strategy, 4,000 extra soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan. If we count the 17,000 servicemen Obama announced on Feb 17, the total US troops in Afghanistan will surge from the current level of 34,000 to 55,000. The new strategy signals how the Obama administration has accomplished the assessment, discussion, and planning of the Afghan policy, and officially put the Afghan war on its own track.

However, does Obama really want to continue the fight in this endless war? Does he want to be mired deeper in the mess? If we carefully examine his strategy, the answers may be "no". Obama's real intention is to withdraw in the future, while the surge in the number of combatants is just one step forward to prepare for two steps back in the withdrawal of troops.