30,000 troops are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 2012

"Landep News"

30,000 troops are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 2012

People are expecting President Barack Obama to announce during this week the fact that about 30,000 troops are to be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by 2012.

According to a congressional source, the members of Congress have already been informed that this year, 10,000 troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan and another 20,000 are to be pulled out during next year. Obama is expected to deliver the so-long awaited speech regarding the troops at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It seems that this period of time gives U.S. commanders another two seasons of fighting while the troops are still available and according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates; he has pushed for additional time in order to roll back Taliban gains in the country before starting to withdraw the troops out of Afghanistan. According to the source, Gates, together with the Afghan war commander Gen. David Petraeus, have asked for only 3,000 to 5,000 troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan this year and they also asked for these troops to be from the support troops only, not combat troops. Still, the President of the United States of America has opted for a more aggressive withdrawal plan and thus, he is to deliver the speech in which he will say that 30,000 troops will get out of Afghanistan by 2012.

On Tuesday, Gates said that the President should take into account public opinion too before deciding such things. “Sustainability here at home” is an important consideration, Gates said, noting that people are “tired of a decade of war.” On the other hand, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked on Tuesday that at least 15,000 troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year. He said that the reduction of the troops in Afghanistan should be significant if they want their plan to work. For those of you who do not know, there are about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan right now, out of which about 30,000 are part of the so-called surge order in 2009. Up until now, President Obama only said that troops should be coming back starting July and that the numbers will be significant. Still, he is to announce on Wednesday the exact numbers. The President of the United State also said that he was confident that the U.S. can meet the self-imposed deadline to begin bringing home the troops and that the Afghan security would not be compromised. Furthermore, it seems that there are more and more Americans who think that pulling the troops back out of Afghanistan is the best way to go and from the Republican party there are also more representatives now who think that this should happen.

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