Ten thousand troops will withdraw from Afghanistan this year, and 33,000 will return home by the end of next summer, President Obama announced, citing improving conditions in the country. “The tide of war is receding," Obama said in an address to the nation from the White House. The strength reduction will coincide with a new strategy, aimed at training and equipping Afghan security forces in the effort to thwart al-Qaida and Taliban insurgency, Obama said. “By 2014, this process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security," Obama said. Presently, about 98,000 U.S. troops are serving in Afghanistan, with another 45,000 in Iraq.
