President Obama announced in his State of the Union speech that the US will withdraw 34,000 troops from Afghanistan “over the next year,” and that by the end of next year, “our war in Afghanistan will be over.” He said the US is negotiating an agreement with Afghanistan to allow the US to focus on training and equipping Afghan forces and pursuing “the remnants of al Qaeda and their affiliates.” He also said al Qaeda is now “a shadow of its former self” although “different Al Qaida affiliates and extremist groups have emerged, from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa” which pose a threat that “is evolving.”
