After Ron Paul speech, Obama tries to woo 'young people tired of US wars'

Only days after Ron Paul famously said his candidacy is a response to endless, undeclared, unwinnable wars dumped on the young people, White House sources frantically confirmed that President Obama will shortly announce his plans to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan in a phased manner by the end of 2011.

Although, White House spokesman Jay Carney stressed on the fact that this was no immediate measure, and that the President was contemplating on making this move for the past few weeks, the timing of the announcement makes it obvious that it is a step taken with the 2012 elections in sight.

Earlier, Ron Paul had made his observation after winning the straw elections at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans on Saturday. He was particularly critical of the US assuming the role of a 'world police man'.

He had also opined that, Americans, instead of worrying over rising debts from hugely expensive wars spanning decades, should focus more on vital aspects like economy. Incidentally, the Afghan involvement alone cost the US government $110 billion in a single year.

Many observers believed that Ron was actually gaining from popular American sentiments which preferred the full withdrawal of troops engaged in foreign occupations without any further delay.

This was more so in the case of Afghanistan, as a recent poll suggested that 56% of US citizens badly wanted the Obama administration to recall the troops immediately.

The full picture of Obama's Afghan plan is yet to come to light, although the White House spokesman said Obama's targets are complimentary to those of the NATO, which is working towards handing over the responsibility of security to Afghan forces by 2014.

Speculation was rife that the announcement could come any time after General David Petraeus had earlier briefed Obama on the possible Afghan options in front of him.

However, it will clearly look odd if the President makes a sweeping statement that the US is in a perfect position to withdraw troops at this stage while things still appear a little volatile in Afghanistan.

To say that Afghan forces are capable enough to effectively take over from where the US forces leave, will be a far-fetched statement.

So when Obama makes a televised announcement from the White House later on Wednesday, it is not conclusive that he will really stand to gain from this move.