Following the announcement of the new strategy on the war in Afghanistan by President Barack Obama, U.S. officials are clarifying a key point in the strategy that may be misconstrued in any number of ways.

Officials are stressing that the planned pull-out of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, scheduled to start in the summer of 2011, is going to be done gradually. The withdrawal of troops was discussed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on “This Week” on ABC, where he reportedly said: “I do not consider this an exit strategy, and I try to avoid using that term.  This is a transition that is going to take place, and it is not an arbitrary date.”

One of the objectives of the strategy that called for the sending of an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan was to assist Afghan security forces in strengthening their capacity “so that they can take the lead responsibility in Afghanistan’s future,” to quote the President. As such, the President’s plan will entail an “accelerated schedule” for training Afghan forces.

Arizona Senator John McCain expressed opposition over having a specific target date for the withdrawal of American troops. The Senator was quoted as saying:

“When conditions on the ground have decisively begun to change for the better, that is when our troops should start to return home with honor,” McCain said. “Not one minute longer, not one minute sooner, and certainly not on some arbitrary date in July, 2011.”