Obama to make announcement on this later today. The time has not been set as of this posting.
So after all the US troops leave, who will guard the poppy fields?
The GOP should just defund the Afghan deployment entirely.
Why do we need to stay? To provide targets for the jihadis?
Get the heck out! Now!
13 years is enough.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release May 27, 2014
Statement by the President on Afghanistan
Rose Garden
2:46 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. As you know, this weekend, I traveled to Afghanistan to thank our men and women in uniform and our deployed civilians, on behalf of a grateful nation, for the extraordinary sacrifices they make on behalf of our security. I was also able to meet with our commanding General and Ambassador to review the progress that we’ve made. And today, I’d like to update the American people on the way forward in Afghanistan and how, this year, we will bring America’s longest war to a responsible end.
The United States did not seek this fight. We went into Afghanistan out of necessity, after our nation was attacked by al Qaeda on September 11th, 2001. We went to war against al Qaeda and its extremist allies with the strong support of the American people and their representatives in Congress; with the international community and our NATO allies; and with the Afghan people, who welcomed the opportunity of a life free from the dark tyranny of extremism.
We have now been in Afghanistan longer than many Americans expected. But make no mistake -- thanks to the skill and sacrifice of our troops, diplomats, and intelligence professionals, we have struck significant blows against al Qaeda’s leadership, we have eliminated Osama bin Laden, and we have prevented Afghanistan from being used to launch attacks against our homeland. We have also supported the Afghan people as they continue the hard work of building a democracy. We’ve extended more opportunities to their people, including women and girls. And we’ve helped train and equip their own security forces.
Now we’re finishing the job we started. Over the last several years, we’ve worked to transition security responsibilities to the Afghans. One year ago, Afghan forces assumed the lead for combat operations. Since then, they’ve continued to grow in size and in strength, while making huge sacrifices for their country. This transition has allowed us to steadily draw down our own forces -- from a peak of 100,000 U.S. troops, to roughly 32,000 today.
2014, therefore, is a pivotal year. Together with our allies and the Afghan government, we have agreed that this is the year we will conclude our combat mission in Afghanistan. This is also a year of political transition in Afghanistan. Earlier this spring, Afghans turned out in the millions to vote in the first round of their presidential election -- defying threats in order to determine their own destiny. And in just over two weeks, they will vote for their next President, and Afghanistan will see its first democratic transfer of power in history.
In the context of this progress, having consulted with Congress and my national security team, I’ve determined the nature of the commitment that America is prepared to make beyond 2014. Our objectives are clear: Disrupting threats posed by al Qaeda; supporting Afghan security forces; and giving the Afghan people the opportunity to succeed as they stand on their own.
Here’s how we will pursue those objectives. First, America’s combat mission will be over by the end of this year. Starting next year, Afghans will be fully responsible for securing their country. American personnel will be in an advisory role. We will no longer patrol Afghan cities or towns, mountains or valleys. That is a task for the Afghan people.
Second, I’ve made it clear that we’re open to cooperating with Afghans on two narrow missions after 2014: training Afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda.
Today, I want to be clear about how the United States is prepared to advance those missions. At the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately 98,000 U.S. -- let me start that over, just because I want to make sure we don’t get this written wrong. At the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately 9,800 U.S. servicemembers in different parts of the country, together with our NATO allies and other partners. By the end of 2015, we will have reduced that presence by roughly half, and we will have consolidated our troops in Kabul and on Bagram Airfield. One year later, by the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component, just as we’ve done in Iraq.
Now, even as our troops come home, the international community will continue to support Afghans as they build their country for years to come. But our relationship will not be defined by war -- it will be shaped by our financial and development assistance, as well as our diplomatic support. Our commitment to Afghanistan is rooted in the strategic partnership that we agreed to in 2012. And this plan remains consistent with discussions we’ve had with our NATO allies. Just as our allies have been with us every step of the way in Afghanistan, we expect that our allies will be with us going forward.
Third, we will only sustain this military presence after 2014 if the Afghan government signs the Bilateral Security Agreement that our two governments have already negotiated. This Agreement is essential to give our troops the authorities they need to fulfill their mission, while respecting Afghan sovereignty. The two final Afghan candidates in the run-off election for President have each indicated that they would sign this agreement promptly after taking office. So I’m hopeful that we can get this done.
The bottom line is, it’s time to turn the page on more than a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. When I took office, we had nearly 180,000 troops in harm’s way. By the end of this year, we will have less than 10,000. In addition to bringing our troops home, this new chapter in American foreign policy will allow us to redirect some of the resources saved by ending these wars to respond more nimbly to the changing threat of terrorism, while addressing a broader set of priorities around the globe.
I think Americans have learned that it’s harder to end wars than it is to begin them. Yet this is how wars end in the 21st century -- not through signing ceremonies, but through decisive blows against our adversaries, transitions to elected governments, security forces who take the lead and ultimately full responsibility. We remain committed to a sovereign, secure, stable, and unified Afghanistan. And toward that end, we will continue to support Afghan-led efforts to promote peace in their country through reconciliation. We have to recognize that Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America’s responsibility to make it one. The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans. But what the United States can do -- what we will do -- is secure our interests and help give the Afghans a chance, an opportunity to seek a long, overdue and hard-earned peace.
America will always keep our commitments to friends and partners who step up, and we will never waver in our determination to deny al Qaeda the safe haven that they had before 9/11. That commitment is embodied by the men and women in and out of uniform who serve in Afghanistan today and who have served in the past. In their eyes, I see the character that sustains American security and our leadership abroad. These are mostly young people who did not hesitate to volunteer in a time of war. And as many of them begin to transition to civilian life, we will keep the promise we make to them and to all veterans, and make sure they get the care and benefits that they have earned and deserve.
This 9/11 Generation is part of an unbroken line of heroes who give up the comfort of the familiar to serve a half a world away -- to protect their families and communities back home, and to give people they never thought they’d meet the chance to live a better life. It’s an extraordinary sacrifice for them and for their families. But we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re willing to make it. That’s who we are as Americans. That’s what we do.
Tomorrow, I will travel to West Point and speak to America’s newest class of military officers to discuss how Afghanistan fits into our broader strategy going forward. And I’m confident that if we carry out this approach, we can not only responsibly end our war in Afghanistan and achieve the objectives that took us to war in the first place, we’ll also be able to begin a new chapter in the story of American leadership around the world.
Thanks very much.
END
2:58 P.M. EDT
obama to abandon 9,800 troops. They are not to kill the enemy or as obama would say. Your enemy is my friend.
Pray for those 9,800. That is such a token force, that they will be like a poor soul in a pit of Rattlesnakes.
Well - near 10,000 of America’s best who can be disenfranchised from voting in 2016 and too far away for any possible “Seven Days in May” type of coup. In addition to the basic lie that our troops would be out of that travesty soon. This means my Marine grandson has 2 1/2 years more for the muslim here to send him (again) to be killed by the muslims there. He’s smart enough to know BO wants him sacrificed, and why. But he’s a Marine to the core. (Also the Corps) (Or as BO would say, the corpse.)
Well Owebama said they were corpse men. Guess he knew what he was talking about as he hates our military.
How many nuclear weapons did Afghanistan have on 9/12/2001? GWB should have ended this a decade ago.
This has to be all about the opium money.
My desire is that this is all over, before Flying Eagle Junior, now onboard MCRD San Diego for Marine Corps Boot Camp for recruits, has to be faced with any posting to the Afghan disaster.
Excerpt
In October 2013, a scandal broke out in Kabul when, during inspections in Afghanistan, 65 high-ranking intelligence officers were revealed to be... heroin addicts! A few years before this, it emerged that the CIA was financing Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of Hamid Karzai, who for more than eight years was a leading opium dealer in the region.
US researchers maintain that the opium trade in America is being controlled by the networks and cartels that were exposed during the Iran-Contra affair and that have not stopped their activities since the 1980s: «The pillars of the Karzai regime rely on support from the drugs trade, and for us they are untouchable. We have turned Afghanistan into the largest supplier of heroin, and this has happened under the control of the CIA», these researchers observe.
According to information provided by major media outlets (The Daily Mail, The New York Times, Pakistan Daily etc.), the largest suppliers of heroin to the global market are: Izzatullah Wasifi, Governor of the Farah Province, chief of Afghanistan’s General Independent Administration of Anti Corruption whose duties include preventing opium cultivation, and a childhood friend of Hamid Karzai who was arrested by the US authorities back in July 1987 for the illegal trafficking of high-grade heroin (!); Jamil Karzai, head of the National Youth Solidarity Party of Afghanistan, a member of the Afghan National Security Council, and a nephew of Hamid Karzai who has business dealings with Haji Mohammad Osman, the owner of a drug laboratory in the Achin district of Nangarhar Province (in the small region of Damgal); Abdul Qayum Karzai, a member of the lower house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, a former employee of the American company Unocal, and a brother of Hamid Karzai who is the biggest drug baron in Kandahar; Shah Wali Karzai, a brother of Hamid Karzai who has crop fields in the provinces of Kandahar, Nangarhar, Urozgan, Zabul, Paktia, Paktika and Helmand; and dozens of representatives of executive and legislative authorities, as well as officials from the Afghan Ministry of Internal Affairs.
If we believe the media in the West, then it is Western puppets like the Karzai family and their minions who are to blame for the rapid growth of heroin addiction in the world. However, only 20 percent of the opium poppies are grown in the northern and central districts of Afghanistan that are controlled by the Karzai government. The rest of this lucrative poison is being grown in the southern provinces of the country on the border with Pakistan, in areas controlled by NATO forces. The main centre of drug production is Helmand Province, which is under the guardianship of the British.
http://m.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/01/24/on-the-drugs-of-peacemakers.html
No Blood for Opium!
TASK FORCE SMITH.
As usual, he made no gesture to Bush, gave no indication that the war was a two-administration effort. It was all about him. In fact, there was even an indirect dig at Bush when he referenced troop levels when he took office (high) and what they are now (low). He is the most ungracious president in my lifetime.
I said it way back in 2001 when Bush decided to invade Aftganiscrap and then Iraq that we should just NUKE them - collateral damage be damned. That's how we won WWII.
Sorry, have little compassion for the women and children, especially after having learned through much studies (I could write a term paper on this subject) they readily accept such hateful teachings. Ever seen the documentary, "Children of Gaza". Good luck finding it - it's been scrubbed from many search engines. Reason, the person who started the study in Gaza to support the poor children of Gaza found that many of them were gophers for the terrorists because of anti-Israel/anti-western teachings from kindergarten on up. Their parents supported them then and still do.
Any wonder why Israel cannot come to terms with the so-called Palestinian Authorities, or their more radical Hamas? Sheesh, way back the Palis were given about 97% of their demands at the Camp David Peace Accords. But no, Arafat (Nobel Peace Prize winner) wanted all. When he didn't get it, he called for an intifada which killed countless innocent Jews in buses, cafes, weddings, town squares, etc. Then Israel got smart and built a wall and started profiling those they would let enter. Oh no! Discrimination! But it works to this day.
This a war of ideology/theology - a war of cultures, not unlike Nazi Germany. They also believed to be superior as most Muslims believe. Hell, they even had a pact with Hitler. If we want to win it, then we have to take horrific measures, but no power in the world other than Israel has the balls. And it's becoming increasing clear that even Israel is hesitant.
I say kill them all!, and let people live in peace. Let God sort them out.
Get all of our soldiers out of that Hell Hole. Obama has yet again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and not one more death of a soldier is justified , with the treasonous Obama in charge.