In his West Point speech, President Obama laid out an exit strategy for Afghanistan, setting July 2011 as the date on which troops will begin withdrawing. The president, through [spokesman] Robert Gibbs, later described this date as "locked in," "etched in stone" and having "no flexibility."

Sounds pretty definite.

But just four days later, members of [Mr.] Obama's Cabinet were directly contradicting their boss.

"We're not talking about an exit strategy," said [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton. "What we're talking about is an assessment."

"We're talking about something that will take place over a period of time," said [Defense Secretary] Robert Gates. "We will have 100,000 troops there. And they are not leaving in July of 2011."

This White House clearly has a credibility crisis. They need an exit strategy for their rollout of an exit strategy.

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