Obama orders 10,000 troops home from Afghanistan
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China.org.cn, June 23, 2011
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U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the war in Afghanistan during a televised address from the East Room of the White House in Washington June 22, 2011. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
The US will remove 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, said U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday night.
After this initial reduction, the U.S. troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead, said Obama, by 2014, this process of transition will be complete.
After the withdrawal of 33,000 troops, some 70,000 U.S. troops will still remain in Afghanistan.
Obama believed that Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. "The information that we recovered from bin Laden's compound shows al-Qaida under enormous strain," said Obama.
"Al Qaeda remains dangerous, and we must be vigilant against attacks. But we have put al Qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done," said Obama.
He also said that there were still huge challenges in Afghanistan. "We'll have to do the hard work of keeping the gains
that we've made, while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the Afghan government," said Obama.
Next May, in Chicago, Obama will host a summit with his NATO allies and partners to shape the next phase of the transition.
