But the pace of the drawdown, and the final departure date, would depend on "conditions on the ground".
"Things are already looking bad for 2014, with both the [troop] drawdown and possibly some very messy elections.
"That is likely to be a better strategy than going fully into drawdown and hoping to find a fund to replicate what an annuity will provide – you won't".
A responsible drawdown and transition is both in the region's interests and ours to avoid another war there or closer to home.
Even with continued debate over the drawdown and the idiotic sequester, no one expects that we will stop spending more on defense than the next 15 countries combined.
Then he deferred the 2015 drawdown and has now punted it, with a geographic dispersion beyond Kabul, to the end of his presidency.
"It seems prudent to keep all options open, and to take a mix and match approach including drawdown and annuities at a later stage," he says.
"Investor demand for non-annuity retirement incomes, in the form of drawdown and one-off lump sums, now dwarf sales of annuity arrangements.
Since then, the White House has at times cut the military out of its deliberations on the pace of the troop drawdown and the future shape of the mission.
"Legal & General is well-placed to continue to develop a product suite that includes good-value drawdown and protection against longevity risk as well as provision of investment income," it said.
The goal, no doubt, is to further loosen the government's tenuous hold on power as the U.S. and NATO military forces begin their long-announced drawdown and withdrawal from the country.
