President Barack Obama has announced that tens of thousands of American troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan between now and late 2012. That will be welcome news to many Americans, although it leaves questions of whether we have accomplished what we set out to do there.
Our involvement in Afghanistan began in 2001, as a response to the Afghanistan-based terrorists who had plotted the 9/11 attacks on the United States, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. The war has dragged on for nearly a decade since then without any satisfactory solution. Casualties have mounted and Americans have become weary with the struggle.
Well over 1,000 Americans have died in Afghanistan combat, plus hundreds of non-battle fatalities. Thousands more have been wounded there. There also has been an expenditure of many billions of U.S. tax dollars in Afghanistan, which has added to the frustration many Americans feel with the seemingly endless involvement.
So the president addressed the nation Wednesday night to announce that he will withdraw 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011, with 23,000 more Americans coming home by September of next year.
But certainly no one is calling that a full withdrawal, because about 68,000 American soldiers will still be there.