Obama Orders Troop Cuts in Afghanistan, 30,000 by next summer. - Polidicks

[quote]WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Wednesday that the United States had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan, setting in motion a timetable for the rapid withdrawal of American troops in an acknowledgement of the shifting threat in the region and fast-changing political and economic landscape in a war-weary America. [b]Asserting that the country that served as a launching pad for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks no longer represented a terrorist threat to the United States, Mr. Obama declared that the “tide of war is receding.”[/b] And in a blunt acknowledgment of domestic economic strains, he said, “America, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home.” Mr. Obama announced plans to [b]withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year[/b]. The [b]remaining 20,000 troops from the 2009 “surge” of forces would leave by next summer[/b], amounting to about a third of the 100,000 troops now in the country. He said the troop reductions would continue “at a steady pace,” bringing to an end America’s longest war — a conflict that has cost 1,500 American lives. The troop reductions, which came after a short but fierce internal debate, are both deeper and faster than the recommendations made by Mr. Obama’s military commanders, and they come as the president faces relentless budget pressures, an increasingly restive Congress and American public and a re-election campaign next year. The withdrawals would mark the start of a winding down of the military’s counterinsurgency strategy, which Mr. Obama adopted 18 months ago. [b]Most American forces are expected to leave Afghanistan by 2014. [/b]Administration officials indicated that they now planned to place more emphasis on smaller, focused counterterrorism operations of the kind that killed Osama bin Laden, which the president cited as Exhibit A in the case for a substantial American troop reduction. “We are starting this drawdown from a position of strength,” Mr. Obama said in somber, 12-minute address delivered from the East Room of the White House. “Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11.” He said that an intense campaign of drone strikes and other covert operations in Pakistan had crippled Al Qaeda’s original network in the region, leaving its leaders either dead or pinned down in the rugged border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. [b]Of 30 top Qaeda leaders identified by American intelligence, 20 have been killed in the last year and a half, administration officials said.[/b] But the withdrawal of the entire surge force by the end of next summer will significantly change the way that the United States wages war in Afghanistan, analysts said, suggesting that the administration may have concluded it can no longer achieve its loftiest ambitions there. Mr. Obama acknowledged as much in his remarks.[b] “We will not try to make Afghanistan a perfect place,” he said. “We will not police its streets or patrol its mountains indefinitely. That is the responsibility of the Afghan government.”[/b] Mr. Obama’s decision is a victory for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has long argued for curtailing the military engagement in Afghanistan. The president signaled that the days of the United States responding to terrorist attacks with massive force were over, and indicated a willingness to move toward more focused clandestine operations of the type that the United States is conducting in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere. “When threatened, we must respond with force,” he said. “But when that force can be targeted, we need not deploy large armies overseas.” The pace of the withdrawal is a setback for his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has been named director of the Central Intelligence Agency. [b]General Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field manual on counterinsurgency policy, did not endorse the decision[/b], said another official, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both accepted it with reservations. General Petraeus had recommended limiting withdrawals to 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 over the winter, deferring the withdrawal of the rest of the surge force through next year’s fighting season. [/quote] Source:[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23prexy.html[/url] Hopefully the rest of the troops can be back before 2014.

Looks like I picked a good time to join the Army, the major combat involving US soldiers is beginning to wind down.

Good to hear. I suppose we do need to still keep a number of troops there for preventative measures. Honestly thought that he would [I]pull out[/I] faster than that though.

I just read this. I definitely am going to wait until I see it.. but it is nice to hear. We do need to focus on our own country.

[quote][B]“We will not try to make Afghanistan a perfect place,” he said. “We will not police its streets or patrol its mountains indefinitely. That is the responsibility of the Afghan government.”[/quote] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaLGS8_gE7g[/media] [/B]

Here is the speech. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RVgKEwyqM[/media] So all he's doing is withdrawing the surge troops. It doesn't make sense to compliment him because he was the one who ordered the surge. He's just undoing his previous actions and we are just going to be where we were in 2009. You can't at all believe the 2014 claims, and you can figure this because long term plans are always changed. The real joke about the Iraq withdrawal is that we hired a bunch of mercenaries to take the place of all the US troops that left, and we're paying those mercenaries about three times as much as our troops. Is that what we are going to do in Afghanistan? I'm guessing yes.

Good.

[QUOTE=Pepin;30646717]Here is the speech. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RVgKEwyqM[/media] So all he's doing is withdrawing the surge troops. It doesn't make sense to compliment him because he was the one who ordered the surge. He's just undoing his previous actions and we are just going to be where we were in 2009. You can't at all believe the 2014 claims, and you can figure this because long term plans are always changed. The real joke about the Iraq withdrawal is that we hired a bunch of mercenaries to take the place of all the US troops that left, and we're paying those mercenaries about three times as much as our troops. Is that what we are going to do in Afghanistan? I'm guessing yes.[/QUOTE] Aren't the mercs just there to protect certain industrial interests?

Even when this "withdrawal" is done we'll still have more troops occupying the country than when he took office, and we're now being told it's a minimum of THREE AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS before we can even claim an "end to combat missions" like in Iraq. Need I remind you we still have tens of thousands of people in Iraq. Let the Afghans have their shitty little country back and stop spending money on them. We've spent more money on this war than ten generations of Afghans will make in their entire lives.

He had better pull the troops out, my brother was wounded earlier this month on a base in north Afghanistan, shot with a .50 russian HMG, went through a sandbag, but still, it lodged in his bicep after ripping the shit out of his forearm. he's gonna be back in 2 weeks for a month.

[QUOTE=NO ONE;30646548]Good to hear. I suppose we do need to still keep a number of troops there for preventative measures. Honestly thought that he would [I]pull out[/I] faster than that though.[/QUOTE] The damage has already been done, Afghanistan is pregnant.

Crossing my fingers that Afghanistan doesn't do something stupid and cause the withdrawal to reverse. :frown:

"Withdrawal from counter-insurgency should not be viewed as a defeat or a chance to get rid of an unpleasant nuisance. Creating bloodbaths and calling them progress is more than cynical and self-serving. It is an abrogation of humanity. [b]The interest and investment in a country does not end with the withdrawal of forces.[/b] Rather, the elevated economic and political effort in support of the host government should remain if it is to survive and to prevent chaos."

Don't count on it, reelection bullshit talk. Bases will be in Afghanistan for the next 20 years.

[QUOTE=Vaught;30647080]Crossing my fingers that Afghanistan doesn't do something stupid and cause the withdrawal to reverse. :frown:[/QUOTE] Like during the soviet-Afghan war?

[QUOTE=Bubz;30650507]Don't count on it, reelection bullshit talk. Bases will be in Afghanistan for the next 20 years.[/QUOTE] Yes because the military disregards an order FROM THE GUY AT THE FUCKING TOP.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;30646904]Even when this "withdrawal" is done we'll still have more troops occupying the country than when he took office, and we're now being told it's a minimum of THREE AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS before we can even claim an "end to combat missions" like in Iraq. Need I remind you we still have tens of thousands of people in Iraq. Let the Afghans have their shitty little country back and stop spending money on them. We've spent more money on this war than ten generations of Afghans will make in their entire lives.[/QUOTE] ...Which actually convinces me we need to stay there. [editline]23rd June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Tac Error;30647732]"Withdrawal from counter-insurgency should not be viewed as a defeat or a chance to get rid of an unpleasant nuisance. Creating bloodbaths and calling them progress is more than cynical and self-serving. It is an abrogation of humanity. [b]The interest and investment in a country does not end with the withdrawal of forces.[/b] Rather, the elevated economic and political effort in support of the host government should remain if it is to survive and to prevent chaos."[/QUOTE] Thanks TAC, I was about to quote that myself because I agree with it completely.

[QUOTE=Nikota;30650696]Yes because the military disregards an order FROM THE GUY AT THE FUCKING TOP.[/QUOTE] [quote]Most American forces are expected to leave Afghanistan by 2014.[/quote]

I'm glad. In before Glaber.

I head this on the news today. They also said the army will change their status to Support and not Frontline.

[QUOTE=Meatpuppet;30646679][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaLGS8_gE7g[/media] [/B][/QUOTE] Wasn't that the idea all along? We've been training troops there for years. Not exactly a new idea.

Yea we tried that in vietnam, worked out great.

It is funny how you guys cheer this on. Obama has done shit all pocket change. Even AFTER his little withdrawal, there will be DOUBLE the amount of troops that were there after his inauguration

[QUOTE=NO ONE;30646548]Good to hear. I suppose we do need to still keep a number of troops there for preventative measures. [B]Honestly thought that he would [I]pull out[/I] faster than that though.[/B][/QUOTE] Obama has a good stamina.

[QUOTE=Aman VII;30660449]It is funny how you guys cheer this on. Obama has done shit all pocket change. Even AFTER his little withdrawal, there will be DOUBLE the amount of troops that were there after his inauguration[/QUOTE] No need to be a Negative Nancy. I just want this stupid war/conflict/whatever to end. Tired of all the lives and time (and munny) being wasted there. :smith:

[QUOTE=Aman VII;30660449]It is funny how you guys cheer this on. Obama has done shit all pocket change. Even AFTER his little withdrawal, there will be DOUBLE the amount of troops that were there after his inauguration[/QUOTE] Shit all, you say? [url]http://www.facebook.com/pages/Things-Obama-has-done/457458970505?v=info[/url]

We should have been gone already. We could have nabbed Osama back in 03 and be gone by 06.