In his speech before the cadets at West Point this evening, President Obama outlined plans to begin withdrawing U.S. troops starting in July, 2011. Obama gave Afghan forces 18 months of an increased U.S. military presence in their country — after that, he said American troops will begin to leave the theater they first entered in 2001.
From the speech:
And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.
Obama acknowledged that the decision to set an exit strategy was a controversial one, but said that setting a date for troop withdrawal was the best way to motivate the Afghan government to step up:
Indeed, some call for a more dramatic and open-ended escalation of our war effort – one that would commit us to a nation building project of up to a decade. I reject this course because it sets goals that are beyond what we can achieve at a reasonable cost, and what we need to achieve to secure our interests. Furthermore, the absence of a timeframe for transition would deny us any sense of urgency in working with the Afghan government.
The 2011 withdrawal date is not hard-and-fast, Obama said. If the situation deteriorates further in Afghanistan after 18 months with the new troops, there’s a chance American forces could stay beyond the deadline. From the speech:
Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground. We will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan’s Security Forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government – and, more importantly, to the Afghan people – that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.
