On December 1, 2009 President Obama announced that 30,000 more troops will be sent to Afghanistan, and some will leave by the end of the year. In his presidential address, Obama stated that the troops will begin coming home in July 2011.
"The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 the fastest pace possible so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers," Obama said.
The increased troops "will increase our ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans."
President Obama said that a withdrawal would be executed "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," Obama said.
"We must come together to end this war successfully," the president said. "For what's at stake is not simply a test of NATO's credibility. What's at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world."
President Obama delivered his speech to cadets at the West Point Academy in West Point, New York and it was broadcast to the nation. See the video below for the entire thirty minute speech.
Source: CNN and the Associated Press
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