Flashbacks: Then and Now

During my year in the Pentagon, we regularly reviewed documents going through NATO, and one of the key controversies, when it came to the missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, would be which word would be used: benchmarks or milestones?  Benchmarks would be based on conditions, some that might be awfully hard to satisfy.  Milestones focused more on the passage of time--we have been here long enough.  The Obama plan seems to be more focused on milestones--once we have been here long enough, it is time to go.

And, the speech reminded me of something else--words matter.  In many of our documents in 2001-2002, we used some phrases repeatedly--those uttered by the president:

• "In together, out together"  That the US would not abandon its allies on the Balkans, that the US went in with NATO and would stay until NATO left. 
• This was ultimately fudged--that the US left Bosnia when NATO's SFOR was replaced by the European Union's EUFOR.  But that really meant that the US and Canada were leaving Bosnia to be handled by the European allies.
• Still, the US remains in Kosovo with the rest of its partners.
• "Hasten the day" That we would work hard to make it possible to get out. 
• Did Bosnia improve so significantly that the US could depart and the NATO mission could end?  I guess so, but lots of the conditions were not so hastened. 

Obviously, there are tensions between these two phrases--back then and now.  Obama faces seriously tradeoffs and tried to finesse them.  Jumping in and out quickly may not be the best way to go, but there are no obvious best paths to proceed.