Obama Is About to Destroy One of the Biggest Goals of His Presidency With This Announcement

As candidate for president in 2008, President Obama vowed, “I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.” Now, almost seven years later we know he will leave office with troops in both nations.

President Obama [announced] Thursday that the United States will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017.

Obama’s plan calls for maintaining the current force of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of 2016. The pace of the withdrawals is to be determined by the military.

“This is this administration pushing this off to the next administration because the next time they have to make this decision, it will be a different president in the White House,” said retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst. He labeled the decision “kicking this can down the road.”

In March, Obama had called for a level of 5,500 troops by the end of this year and an “embassy-only” presence by the end of 2016.

In reporting about the announcement, Fox News cited two reasons for the continued American presence in Afghanistan. (Read more from “Obama Is About to Destroy One of the Biggest Goals of His Presidency With This Announcement” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.