In a major policy speech Wednesday night, President Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year—and a total of 33,000 by the end of next summer. Promising to be “as strategic as we are resolute,” Obama spoke of the need to balance the war on terror with urgent domestic priorities—such as “rising debt and hard economic times.” He used Libya as an example of squeezing resources by relying on help from allies rather than putting boots on the ground. “America, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home,” the president said.
