Max Eternity - Using language like "finish the job" and claiming that he intends to pull out of Afghanistan in 2011, Obama adds 30,000 new troops.  In his escalation explanation of the Afghan war and occupation, Obama has attempted to offer a silver lining of hope by  essentially promising definitive pull-out dates--ending the conflict.  Yet simultaneously his State and Defense Departments are contradicting his "Exit Strategy" rhetoric, back-walking much of what The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and others have reported that the President  said in his surge speech announcement made less than a week ago.

In a recent New York Times article, Robert Gates--former Defense Secretary to Bush--current Defense Secretary to Obama--called Obama's scheduled July 2011 Afghan withdrawal "the Beginning, not End."

Fallout has begun.

Political cartoonist Mark Fiore has created a Flash animation depicting the President's bizarre double-speak, and an article at The Huffington Post also provides insight into the mixed-messages coming from Obama and his top-level cabinet officials, stating in part:

Despite the president's commitment on Tuesday that a surge of US and international troops in Afghanistan would "allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011," that date is not a "drop dead deadline"--at least according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Read more.