10,000 US troops to leave Af by end of the year

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday declared that the United States has largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan and set in motion a substantial withdrawal of troops. The declaration is an acknowledgment of the shifting threat in the region and the fast-changing political and economic landscape in a war-weary America. 


Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. The remaining 20,000 troops from the 2009 "surge" of forces will leave by next summer, amounting to about a third of the 100,000 troops now in the country. He said the drawdown would continue "at a steady pace" until the US hands over security to the Afghan authorities in 2014. 


"Tide of war is receding," Obama said, asserting that the country that served as a base for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks no longer represents a terrorist threat to the United States. In a blunt recognition of domestic economic strains, he said: "America, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home." 


Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the decision, sounding confident that Afghanistan's Nato-trained police and army can take control of the country from the departing forces. "At the end of 2014, the Afghans, for their homeland, for their protection, for the security of their people, completely should be in control," Karzai said in a televised address.