Foreign Policy Experts

Could somebody please explain to me how the Obama administration can adopt such inane, and counterproductive positions in foreign policy, yet present themselves as experts in the field? Obama makes the head scratching decision to announce a withdrawal date from Afghanistan. We don't withdraw mind you, we just tell the enemy the date on which we will withdraw. We also inform them that our strategy will be to stay around long enough to train and indoctrinate locals to take our place and defeat the Taliban. Now the locals look at this and must think, "Hmmm, let's see, the Americans are bugging out next year, and the Taliban has said they will take revenge on any Afghan who aids them in the meantime. Since I have no means or location in which to relocate, I just can't decide who deserves my loyalty. This is a real stumper."