Obama’s Plans for Afghanistan: Reactions Wrap-up

President Barack Obama’s June 22, 2011 address to the nation confirmed that the decision he made in 2009 to send an additional 33,000 troops into Afghanistan was by no means an open-ended commitment. Starting in July, the United States will begin removing 10,000 troops from Afghanistan, with a further commitment to bring home the additional 23,000 troops by next summer. Reflecting that the United States’ mission in Afghanistan will change from combat to support, troop withdrawals will progress at a steady place until 2014. It is anticipated that by this time Afghanistan will be responsible for its own security. Despite claiming that the drawdown was beginning from a “position of strength,” Obama warned that al Qaida remained dangerous. The President also emphasized that troop withdrawals were merely the beginning of American efforts to end the war in Afghanistan. The next phase of the transition will be shaped in May 2012, when the President hosts a summit with NATO allies and other partners. The summit is likely to form part of Obama’s commitment to a political settlement that reconciles all sections of Afghan society, up to and including the Taliban. In return for an Afghan government-led peace process, Obama offered to […]