Obama Announces Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal In Speech To Nation

Posted: 06/22/11

WASHINGTON -- In a much-anticipated prime time address on Wednesday, President Barack Obama laid out the beginning of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, assuring the nation that 33,000 U.S. troops will be pulled out by the autumn of 2012. Five thousand troops will be pulled out immediately, with another 5,000 leaving at the end of 2011.

"My fellow Americans, this has been a difficult decade for our country," he said, according to prepared remarks. "Yet tonight, we take comfort in knowing that the tide of war is receding."

"Fewer of our sons and daughters are serving in harm’s way," Obama added. "We have ended our combat mission in Iraq, with 100,000 American troops already out of that country. And even as there will be dark days ahead in Afghanistan, the light of a secure peace can be seen in the distance. These long wars will come to a responsible end."

The 33,000 troops being withdrawn were part of the "surge" that Obama announced in his 2009 speech at West Point. That will leave approximately 68,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan, which is still significantly higher than the amount that was in the country when Obama took office.