New York, Dec.2 (ANI): Former US President George W. Bush can no longer be held responsible for the bloody war in Afghanistan, for his successor –President Obama has decided to take that burden into his shoulders, an analysis appearing in CBS says.

According to the analysis, Obama might just have committed what could be the biggest political blunder of his years in office, and it adds that he has done so “knowingly, deliberately, and without blinders on.”

It further goes on to criticise Obama for leaving sceptical Americans no choice: by setting a firm timetable to begin withdrawing troops.

It says that by twinning his troop increase (30,000) with a timetable to withdraw from Afghanistan by the middle of 2011, Obama has pulled off a bit of a trick.

“He’s given Americans and Congress a meter reading, that, once triggered, will close down the conflict,” it says.

Obama has allowed himself and his commanders room to keep a heavy presence in Afghanistan beyond his firm term, but he has created a strategy and structure that renders that option prohibitively expensive.

His timetable all but guarantees that his request for more troops now will be funded by a reluctant Democratic Congress.

In an hour-long interview today with a small number of political analysts and columnists, Obama said he was prepared for the political onslaught, particularly from within his own party.

“This has been an entirely transparent process,” Mr. Obama said today, adding: “There’s no Gulf of Tonkin here. We are having a wholesome debate about the best strategy forward and I am being held fully accountable to members of Congress, all of whom I think are going to be interested in holding me accountable and making sure that this strategy works. And if it doesn’t, I think there is going to be enormous interest on the part of the American people and on the part of Congress in keeping me to my word that this is not a constant escalation.” (ANI)