US still planning Afghanistan troop reduction in July

According to the White House "Daily Guidance," at 11:45 AM ET, "the President will deliver a statement to the press on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Annual Review in the Brady Press Briefing Room."

Karen DeYoung at the Washington Post got a look at that "Annual Review" -- and it appears that the U.S. will start bringing troops home in July. But, there are caveats:

A White House review of President Obama's year-old Afghan war strategy concluded that it is "showing progress" against al-Qaeda and in Afghanistan and Pakistan but that "the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable," according to a summary document released early Thursday.

Taliban momentum has been "arrested in much of the country and reversed in some key areas, although these gains remain fragile and reversible," the five-page summary said.

The review, it said, indicated that the administration was "setting conditions" to begin the "responsible reduction" of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in July.

I hope the administration continues to set the conditions. This war has gone on way too long already. It needs to end.