Obama ready to cut Afghan 'surge'

22 June 2011 Last updated at 20:26 GMT US troops first entered Afghanistan in autumn 2001 following the 9/11 attacks US President Barack Obama is expected to announce the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from Afghanistan in 2011, in a nationwide TV address shortly.

Speaking from the White House at 2000 (0000 GMT Thursday), Mr Obama will say 33,000 US "surge" troops will leave by September 2012, officials say.

The US currently has about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan overall.

Divisions remain within the Obama administration over the size and speed of the pullout.

Military commanders are thought to want to limit the number of combat troops removed from the country in an effort not to lose ground gained from the Taliban during recent fighting.

Some 33,000 US troops are in Afghanistan as part of the West Point surge - including the 3,000 troops who enabled the surge.

Several firm reports in the US media suggest 5,000 troops will be brought home in the coming months, starting in July, with 5,000 more before the end of the year.

The BBC's Paul Adams, in Washington, says Mr Obama's expected announcement is a quicker pace of withdrawal than most analysts have predicted in recent days and suggests that the president does not feel he needs to leave the bulk of the surge force in place for another fighting season after the one that is under way now.

Continue reading the main story Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Kabul

The US may be setting a timetable for withdrawing its forces, but there are many questions over the first phase of the security transition. In the past few weeks, insurgents have launched what Afghan intelligence officials say is a carefully planned wave of attacks in all of the areas to be handed over by Nato.

In Panjshir, insurgents tried to detonate a car full of explosives but it blew up before it could reach its target. On Tuesday, the influential governor of Parwan province, Abdul Basir Salangi, a close ally of President Karzai, survived an assassination attempt. In the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, a bomb explosion injured two civilians.

In some areas, insurgents have blockaded cities and towns, leaving thousands short of food and medicines.

Afghanistan's police and army are still dependent on coalition forces for air support, food, ammunition and roadside bomb-clearing. In addition, they have high rates of desertion and drug addiction, as well as "rogue" soldiers - there have been a number of incidents in which men in uniform have turned their weapons on Nato and Afghan colleagues.

The president may also highlight the fact that the overall number of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, which stood at around 180,000 when he came into office, should be under 100,000 by the end of this year.

That reduction would go some way towards reassuring critics worried about the escalating cost of the two wars, our correspondent says.

The enormous cost of the military deployment - currently more than $2bn (£1.2bn) a week - is attracting high-profile criticism from Republicans and Democrats.

Meanwhile, the public - battered by hard economic times - are weary of a war that seems to have no end and appears punctuated only by the deaths of young Americans, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Washington.

The Afghan defence ministry welcomed the decision to withdraw foreign troops.

"We appreciate the efforts and sacrifices made by the foreign forces in Afghanistan, but at the same time we congratulate them for returning back to their homelands after a long period of war," a spokesman said.

"The Afghan National Army [ANA] is ready to fill their space but they will face some problems in this area as they still lack weapons and equipment."

Afghan forces are due to take over all security operations by 2014, but BBC correspondents say they are a long way away from being ready for that.

'Gains could be threatened'

Under the current draw down plan the US military would aim to gradually hand over all security operations to Afghan security forces by 2014.

US military leaders are thought to favour a very gradual reduction in troops but other advisers advocate a more significant decrease in the coming months.

Continue reading the main story

We will hear a lot in the coming days about whether the pull-out is too quick or too slow, but it is worth remembering that we are only talking about the extra 30,000 troops Mr Obama has sent”

End Quote Mark Mardell BBC North America editor Mr Obama is expected to tell the American public that while remaining US forces will continue to be withdrawn after the surge troops have left, the pace of that withdrawal will depend on how the initial stage of the draw down goes.

Mr Obama's announcement comes days after departing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that the US was holding "outreach" talks with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

It was the first time the US had acknowledged such contact.

Earlier this month, Mr Gates said at Nato headquarters that "substantial progress" was being made on the ground in Afghanistan.

But he argued that "these gains could be threatened if we do not proceed with the transition to Afghan security lead in a deliberate, organised and co-ordinated manner".

But some believe the security gains being talked about mean a more rapid withdrawal of US forces is practical.

There is also growing political pressure for a significant withdrawal.

A bipartisan group of 27 US senators sent Mr Obama a letter last week pressing for a shift in strategy.

US troops have been in Afghanistan since 2001

"Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily redeploying all regular combat troops," the senators wrote. "The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits."

While many Afghans accept that American troops are needed to defeat the Taliban, correspondents say that they resent their presence in the country.

Insurgents are to blame for most of the deaths, but killings by foreign troops generate widespread outrage.