Logan: Early Afghan drawdown what Taliban wants
The earlier drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan from a combat role to one of training and assisting the Afghan military gives the Taliban what it's sought for a long time, Lara Logan said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that U.S. forces would end its combat involvement in Afghanistan in the middle of 2013, more than a year earlier than planned.
"From the Taliban's point of view, this is exactly what they've been asking for," Logan told Erica Hill and Charlie Rose. "Their pre-condition to sitting down to negotiate with the U.S. was always a withdrawal of foreign forces, all foreign forces, so, um, in their eyes they have exactly what they've always wanted, and it's hard to see what the U.S. really brings to the negotiating table if their enemy already knows that they're on their way out."
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From the White House, Norah O'Donnell said she's been told that the official announcement of the transition will likely be made in May during a NATO summit in Chicago.
"What the key question is after that transition ... will that mean that this administration then announces a further drawdown of troops," said O'Donnell. "We've got 90,000 troops in Afghanistan. There's going to be about 20,000 less by the fall. Will then the president announce that he is pulling even more forces back from Afghanistan?"
Above, watch Lara Logan and Norah O'Donnell analyze the administration's decision