President Obama has ordered 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to train the Afghan army, hundreds of civilian specialists to help Afghanistan rebuild, and billions of dollars in civilian aid to neighbor Pakistan.   Obama had recently ordered an additional 17,000 combat troops to fight militants in southern and eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border.

Jimmy Fallon recently joked about this:

“Here’s some good news.  Barack Obama announced he’s bringing home the troops from Iraq.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the troops a direct flight home, so now they have a two-year layover in Afghanistan.”

President Obama made good on his promise by announcing his plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010.

Between 35,000 to 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq for training and logistical support.  They will withdraw gradually until all U.S. forces are out of Iraq by December 31, 2011, the deadline set in the agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year.

Read More