BULL IN KABUL? – AT 5:28 A.M. ET:  What really is our policy in Afghanistan, and will divisions over it drive a wedge between Hillary "Oval Office" Clinton and Barack "I want to keep the job" Obama?  Fox News reports on Hillary's trip to Afghanistan?

KABUL — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday vowed the United States and its allies will stand by Afghanistan even as fears are growing about the course of the nearly 9-year-old war and the Obama administration plans to begin withdrawing American troops from the country next year.

Clinton acknowledged deepening opposition to international involvement in the conflict amid the rising death toll of foreign troops in the country. But she told an international conference on Afghanistan's future that the "world is with Afghanistan" and that the planned drawdown of U.S. forces was not a sign of flagging commitment.

"The July 2011 date captures both our sense of urgency and the strength of our resolve," she said of U.S. plans to accelerate the process of turning over security to Afghanistan's police and military. "The transition process is too important to push off indefinitely."

"But this date is the start of a new phase, not the end of our involvement," Clinton told the conference, which is being attended by senior officials from about 70 countries. "We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving a stable, secure, peaceful Afghanistan."

COMMENT:   I have absolutely no idea what any of that means.  It's diplo-talk. 

But Afghanistan a year from now, when Obama promised his leftist lemmings that he'll start withdrawing troops, will be a major crisis point. We may make some progress by then, but it's hard to believe it will be dramatic progress.  At the same moment, Iran will be a year closer to the nuclear bomb, or might even have arrived. 

What will Obama do?  Just as intriguing, what will Hillary do?  A year from now, the 2012 election campaign will almost be upon us.

July 20,  2010