Obama may shift military mission in Afghanistan to advisory role before 2012 election; Taliban mocks US' peace overtures

With its sights set on the 2012 Presidential election, the Obama administration is contemplating shifting the US miliary mission in Afghanistan from combat to advisory and training duties before the end of 2012, two years ahead of the President's previously announced deadline for ending combat operations:

In the face of mounting dissatisfaction with the decade-old war in Afghanistan, the U.S. has long vowed to shift from combat to an advisory and training role, but that shift could come much sooner that previously planned, Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The shift to training and supporting the Afghan military could come as soon as next year, the Journal reports -- two years ahead of a 2014 deadline for ending combat operations -- and could help speed up the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The scenario is part of high-level discussions between the Obama administration and military officials...

U.S. diplomatic and military officials have for years emphasized plans for Afghan security forces to "take the lead" in their own country, but the Afghan forces have been criticized as inadequate and sometimes hapless.

Update: Despite the fact, that the Wall Street Journal had cited senior administration officials as their source of information for the aforementioned report, Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, [a Leon Panetta appointee], claims that there has been no change or shift in the US strategy in Afghanistan.

Which essentially means that the administration is a bit confused about it's Afghan policy ["surrender policy"] and is sending out mixed messages.

Sigh....

Meanwhile, the administration's desperate and futile peace overtures to the Taliban are being mocked by Taliban commanders.

Taliban commander, Qari Mahmud Mujahid said the US overtures for peace talks was merely an attempt to save face after battlefield losses.

"The blood of thousands of our Mujahideen is bearing fruit and now the U.S. and its allies are begging us to help them find a respectable exit from Afghanistan," Mujahid told Reuters in a recent interview. "The Taliban had defeated them on the battlefield and now they are working to find out a respectable exit from Afghanistan."

And, despite the fact that the Obama administration and Afghan leaders have already been duped on a number of occasions by phony Taliban peace negotiators, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, during a recent visit to Islamabad, that it was time to bring all militant groups to the negotiating table.

Good grief....