On
December 1, 2009 the President gave a speech
at West Point that announced a troop withdrawal timetable for Afghanistan:
And
as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national
interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After
18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources
that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that
can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan…
The
30,000 additional troops that I'm announcing tonight will deploy in the first
part of 2010 -- the fastest possible pace -- so that they can target the
insurgency and secure key population centers. They'll increase our
ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so
that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the
conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans.
Because
this is an international effort, I've asked that our commitment be joined by
contributions from our allies. Some have already provided additional
troops, and we're confident that there will be further contributions in the
days and weeks ahead. Our friends have fought and bled and died alongside us in
Afghanistan. And now, we must come together to end this war
successfully. For what's at stake is not simply a test of NATO's credibility
-- what's at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of
the world.
But
taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow
us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to
begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.
Valentine’s
Day, 2011:
The
fighting season begins about three months from now and the President submitted
his annual budget
request to Congress today. It reflects the DoD’s anticipations,
among many other things.
We
have 102 thousand troops in Afghanistan right now. According to the
proposed DoD
budget, we will have more than 98 thousand there a year from now.
June
23rd: In a 15 minute prime time address to the nation, the
president said he will reduce troop levels by 10 thousand this year and will
withdraw the balance of the 33 thousand surge troops by the end of next summer,
two months before the next presidential election day.
August
19th: The Afghan government is about to sign a strategic pact that
keeps trainers, Special Forces and air power an additional decade -- until 2024..."at
least".
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