Obama committed to US troops withdrawl from Afghanistan

Asserting that it is time to bring American forces home, and to turn over the security responsibility to the Afghans, the White House said US President Barack Obama is committed to the 2014 deadline with regard to complete security transition in the war-torn country.

“The President, working with countless allies, has established a policy to draw down our forces in Afghanistan and to end that war by 2014. What you saw last night was a debate about whether or not that is wise policy. And this President is committed to bringing our forces home from Afghanistan,” the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters.

Responding to Republican criticism of setting a withdrawal time line, Carney said the purpose of setting a deadline is to make it clear to the government in Kabul, as it was made clear to the government in Baghdad, in Iraq, that they need to begin to take increasing responsibility for their own security so that when it comes to fighting and sometimes dying for their sake, Afghan forces increasingly take on that responsibility, not American men and women.

“That is why we are drawing down those forces there,” he said.

Obama, he said, is very committed to this.

“He made clear in the campaign for President in 2008 that he would end the war in Iraq — he did. He has made clear that he would refocus attention on what was a neglected war in Afghanistan, refocus our mission on al-Qaeda, and decimating al-Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan — he has.

“And he has made clear that this is not a war without end, where we will insert American forces to do the job that should be done, once they’re trained up, by Afghan forces,” Carney added.

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