U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the United States is finishing the job it started in Afghanistan. "Over the last several years, we've worked to transition security responsibilities to the Afghans," Obama said from the White House Rose Garden. "One year ago, Afghan forces assumed the lead for combat operations. Since then, they've continued to grow in size and in strength, while making huge sacrifices for their country. This transition has allowed us to steadily draw down our own forces from a peak of 100,000 U.S. troops to roughly 32,000 today." The president said that he will seek to bring the U.S. force in Afghanistan down to 9,800 as the American combat mission ends later this year. He then intends to withdraw most of those forces by the end of 2016. "At the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately 9,800 U.S. service members in different parts of the country, together with our NATO allies and other partners. By the end of 2015, we will have reduced that presence by roughly half and will have consolidated our troops in Kabul and on Bagram Airfield," Obama said. "One year later, by the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component, just as we've done in Iraq," Obama said.
