He's saying "just wait long enough and a weak American President will come along and quit." Predictably, Jon Huntsman applauds this. Marco Rubio is... less enthusiastic.

From Commentary Magazine:

President Obama’s announcement tonight he is ending the U.S. troop surge that helped stabilize the war in Afghanistan was a fulfillment of his 2009 promise the U.S. offensive would end this summer.  At the time, Obama was rightly praised for his decision to re-commit to fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and his refusal to allow that country to drift back into the control of the Islamists. But by sending the enemy a message America could be waited out, the president also gave them hope. Today, that hope is being renewed. The withdrawal of the surge forces against the advice of our military commanders may wind up breathing new life into the Taliban cause. If, as a result of this decision the Taliban regains the ground it lost since the surge, then we will look back at this speech as a victory for America’s enemies, not a political coup for Obama.

The speech was crafted as a way of positioning the president in such a way as to make him appear both as a successful war leader as well as an opponent of that war. Though Obama made a case for continued engagement in the Middle East, the president seems to be more interested in declaring a victory over the Taliban and al-Qaeda despite the fact the war is nowhere near over, let alone won. Obama presented the choice for America through his usual rhetorical device of proposing a middle way between two extreme points of view. But a phased withdrawal is a smart idea only if you think of it as the only choice other than an unlimited commitment and an all-out bug out.

More at CM.