PoseidonX43
June 22nd, 2011, 03:58 AM
Barack Obama is expected to announce that as many as 10,000 troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year. The US President will address the nation later with reports suggesting he will order 5,000 troops home next month with another 5,000 to leave the war zone by December.
It is expected he could also lay out a timetable for further withdrawals ahead of the planned end of the Afghan mission by 2015. Military chiefs are believed to have been urging a "moderate" withdrawal amid fears that successes on the ground against the Taliban could be reversed. But President Obama has talked of making a "significant" cut in troop numbers, well aware that many Americans believe he should pull out altogether after the successful mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Mr Obama was last week given a range of options for the withdrawal by the top US and Nato commander General David Petraeus.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "The President made the commitment that forces would begin to draw down in July, he is keeping that commitment and that is what he will announce." "This is part of a strategy that we believe has led to our successes in taking the fight to al Qaeda, the successful mission against Osama Bin Laden, stopping the momentum of the Taliban and training up Afghan forces." Military analysts say the most telling part of Mr Obama's announcement will be how long the President plans to keep the surge troops in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who retires next week, said the President has to recognise the public mood. "There are concerns among the American people who are tired of a decade of war," he said. But former presidential candidate John McCain, the senior senator on the Armed Services Committee, cautioned against too big a withdrawal. He said: "I believe that one more fighting season and we can get this thing pretty well wrapped up." Meanwhile, there is growing frustration within the US administration towards the government in Kabul following a speech by Afghan president Hamid Karzai three weeks ago. Mr Karzai said America is not treating Afghanistan as an ally but as an occupied country. US ambassador in Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry responded with a thinly veiled warning: "When we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse, our pride is offended and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on." Polls show 80% of Americans approve of Mr Obama's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan - a conflict that is now the longest in American history. Following the announcement, the President will visit troops at Fort Drum in New York. It is home to the 10th Mountain Division which is one of the divisions most frequently deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
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It is expected he could also lay out a timetable for further withdrawals ahead of the planned end of the Afghan mission by 2015. Military chiefs are believed to have been urging a "moderate" withdrawal amid fears that successes on the ground against the Taliban could be reversed. But President Obama has talked of making a "significant" cut in troop numbers, well aware that many Americans believe he should pull out altogether after the successful mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Mr Obama was last week given a range of options for the withdrawal by the top US and Nato commander General David Petraeus.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "The President made the commitment that forces would begin to draw down in July, he is keeping that commitment and that is what he will announce." "This is part of a strategy that we believe has led to our successes in taking the fight to al Qaeda, the successful mission against Osama Bin Laden, stopping the momentum of the Taliban and training up Afghan forces." Military analysts say the most telling part of Mr Obama's announcement will be how long the President plans to keep the surge troops in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who retires next week, said the President has to recognise the public mood. "There are concerns among the American people who are tired of a decade of war," he said. But former presidential candidate John McCain, the senior senator on the Armed Services Committee, cautioned against too big a withdrawal. He said: "I believe that one more fighting season and we can get this thing pretty well wrapped up." Meanwhile, there is growing frustration within the US administration towards the government in Kabul following a speech by Afghan president Hamid Karzai three weeks ago. Mr Karzai said America is not treating Afghanistan as an ally but as an occupied country. US ambassador in Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry responded with a thinly veiled warning: "When we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse, our pride is offended and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on." Polls show 80% of Americans approve of Mr Obama's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan - a conflict that is now the longest in American history. Following the announcement, the President will visit troops at Fort Drum in New York. It is home to the 10th Mountain Division which is one of the divisions most frequently deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
This is alot i know but it is worth reading.