The scenario would be: Obama says; "I said I would give the Afghanistan war a chance, even with a (modified) surge.   It has not worked out.   Even the Afghans are not happy with their own government--nor are we, because of the attempted micromanaging."

""We've given it our best shot. But now our deficit has to take priority.   Both Democrats and Republicans realize this.   We need to cut our Afghan involvement drastically--and put that money towards addressing the deficit."

Obviously he would use his own words--nowhere near as blunt as mine.