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BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!

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Obama Promises to Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan Beginning July 2011

January 26, 2011 12:19 AM
ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: In his State of the Union address, President Obama reiterated his promise to begin a troops drawdown from Afghanistan this July.
“This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home,” he said Tuesday night to loud applause. 
The president also praised U.S. troops and civilians for reclaiming Taliban strongholds and training Afghan Security Forces, and claimed that “fewer Afghans are under the control of the insurgency,” and al Qaeda’s safe-havens in Pakistan “are shrinking.”
“We have sent a message from the Afghan border to the Arabian Peninsula to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you,” he said.
However, at the same time he warned that there would “tough fighting ahead” for troops and civilians in Afghanistan, and that the Afghan government would need to “deliver better governance.”
“But we are strengthening the capacity of the Afghan people and building an enduring partnership with them,” he said.
President Obama devoted most of his State of the Union address to jobs, the economy, and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure. Mention of Afghanistan came approximately 48 minutes into his speech.
The president also restated the mission in Afghanistan: “Our purpose is clear -- by preventing the Taliban from reestablishing a stranglehold over the Afghan people, we will deny al Qaeda the safe-haven that served as a launching pad for 9/11.” 
New Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, immediately issued a response criticizing the president’s mention of the July drawdown date.
“Tonight, the President’s speech reflected a strong commitment, which I support, to defeating insurgents in Afghanistan and rooting out al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  However, I am concerned that the President has placed a timeline beginning in July for the withdrawal of our troops.  This sends a mixed message to our troops and to the enemies they face.   I steadfastly believe that, going forward, leaders in Washington must look to our commanders on the ground when determining our troop levels,” she said.
Read more on the president’s remarks on foreign policy HERE.
Read the president’s full remarks HERE.

January 26, 2011 in Afghanistan, Congress, Kristina Wong, SOTU, State of the Union | Permalink | Share | User Comments (8)
USER COMMENTS
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We are winning the war in Afghanistan only because they are beginning to run out of people to kill. The supposedly bad guys and the good ones. It seems that there is not enough to kill in Afghanistan, they need to go to nearby Pakistan to fulfill their quota it seems. And when Pakistan runs out, if they stay another 10 yrs. there to, just go across the next countries border like their mode of operations dictate. Who really cares???
POSTED BY: DANIWITZ13 | JAN 26, 2011 12:55:33 AM
Just how many troops can come home really depends on many factors. A total withdrawal will be impossible. Afghanistan cannot survive without US support. The Taliban are ready to move back in.
POSTED BY: KOTTARAS | JAN 26, 2011 1:53:47 AM
He also made comments that indicate he (and his comrades) believe that taxes not collected amounts to government spending. For that to be the case our government must believe that the money we earn is the government's money that it only reluctantly allows us to keep. We're slaves in his mind!
{O.O}
POSTED BY: JD | JAN 26, 2011 4:59:15 AM
Bring them all home. Speaking as someone who has been to that hell hole multiple times, we are NOT winning the war against the ideology that powers the resistance because the people know eventually we WILL leave and the taliban will be left. We can't fight the battles for a culture that doesn't want to fight for itself. Pull a Vietnam...Declare "Victory" and GET US TROOPS OUT OF THIS COUNTRY NOW.
POSTED BY: MARCO | JAN 26, 2011 6:26:21 AM
We need to pull all troops from there, not just enough to make the news.
POSTED BY: RICK MCDANIEL | JAN 26, 2011 9:55:50 AM
Bring them home. I am so sick of my husband getting deployed! He has been to this place twice now and two times in Iraq. Really?
POSTED BY: ARMYWIFE | FEB 24, 2011 10:31:05 AM
I am in the Army National Guard:
My morale is high! I am going to a war:
- That we've been at for 10+ years, and is our longest war.
- We don't know who the enemy is
- We can't even figure out when we will be out
- Has been extended time after time.
-Stop loss and IRR Recall are being abused.
okay nevermind, My morale just sank. Bring the troops home!!!!!!
POSTED BY: JEREMY S | FEB 25, 2011 12:58:53 AM
The Afghanistan "war" is costing too many us dollary and too many lives. We will never "win" this war. Get out now. Soliders come home. We need a leader who will stop this war. I support our soldiers 100%. Bring them home now.
POSTED BY: US MOM | MAR 10, 2011 8:40:08 PM
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