Claiming the America’s war in Afghanistan as a “turning point” for the US militarism, President Barack Obama on Monday extended his grand salute to the troops which returned from the Asian country and declared the country is moving past the time for large military deployments that is aimed at nation building.
The President also took a special note of about 180,000 troops which were deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq after he took office. Obama said that the number of military personnel will be down to less than 15,000 at the December end.
Addressing a gathering of 3,000 armed personnel at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, the US commander in chief said, “The time of deploying large ground forces with big military footprints to engage in nation building overseas, that’s coming to an end.”
The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey is a launching point for military deployments to Afghanistan.
Hailing the endeavor and courage of the armed forces, Obama said, “Going forward our military will be leaner. But as your commander in chief, I’m going to make sure we keep you ready for the range of missions that we ask of you. We are going to keep you the best trained, the best led, the best equipped military in the history of the world because the world will still be calling.”
Last week, the United States and NATO troops closed their operational command in Afghanistan after staging 13 years of war. However, some US troops will remain on the foreign soil to carry out operations against al-Qaida and Taliban targets.
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