U.S. President Barack Obama has announced a plan to greatly reduce the current U.S. force of 32,000 now in Afghanistan, leaving only 9,800 troops there at the end of this year.
Those troops would focus on training Afghan security forces and on counter-terrorism efforts.
Over the course of 2015, the nearly 10,000 troops would be cut in half. And those remaining forces would largely be withdrawn by the end of 2016, with fewer than 1,000 remaining behind to staff a security office in Kabul.
Obama said that the presence of U.S. troops is tied to the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement with Afghanistan. While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declined to sign the agreement, Obama says either of the two candidates seeking to replace him would give his approval.
Obama said Afghanistan will not be a perfect place and it is not up to the U.S. to make it one. He added that Afghan security forces had shown that they are capable of defending their country.