Paul Wood looks at whether the Afghan army is ready for a US withdrawal
President Barack Obama has announced the withdrawal of 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan this year and another 23,000 by September 2012.
Speaking from the White House, Mr Obama told Americans that it was "time to focus on nation-building here at home".
Mr Obama's announcement, after a month-long strategy review, outlined the exit of the forces he sent to the country at the end of 2009 as part of a "surge".
The reductions are larger and faster than military commanders had advised.
They told the president that the recent security gains were fragile and reversible, and had urged him to keep troop numbers high until 2013.
That would have given them another full "fighting season" - in addition to the one now under way - to attack Taliban strongholds and their leaders.
Nevertheless, about 68,000 US troops will remain in Afghanistan. All US combat troops are scheduled to leave by 2013, provided that Afghan forces are ready to assume responsibility for security.
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says the withdrawal will be quicker than most analysts predicted, and suggests the president does not feel he needs to leave the bulk of the surge force in place for another fighting season.
Analysis
The US may be setting a timetable for withdrawing its forces, but there are many questions over the first phase of the security transition. In the past few weeks, insurgents have launched what Afghan intelligence officials say is a carefully planned wave of attacks in all of the areas to be handed over by Nato.
In Panjshir, insurgents tried to detonate a car full of explosives but it blew up before it could reach its target. On Tuesday, the influential governor of Parwan province, Abdul Basir Salangi, a close ally of President Karzai, survived an assassination attempt. In the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, a bomb explosion injured two civilians.
In some areas, insurgents have blockaded cities and towns, leaving thousands short of food and medicines.
Afghanistan's police and army are still dependent on coalition forces for air support, food, ammunition and roadside bomb-clearing. In addition, they have high rates of desertion and drug addiction, as well as "rogue" soldiers - there have been a number of incidents in which men in uniform have turned their weapons on Nato and Afghan colleagues.
That reduction would go some way towards reassuring critics worried about the escalating cost of the two wars, our correspondent says.
The enormous cost of the military deployment - currently more than $2bn (�1.2bn) a week - is attracting high-profile criticism from Republicans and Democrats.
Meanwhile, the public - battered by hard economic times - are weary of a war that seems to have no end and appears punctuated only by the deaths of young Americans, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington.
The Afghan defence ministry welcomed the decision to withdraw foreign troops.
"We appreciate the efforts and sacrifices made by the foreign forces in Afghanistan, but at the same time we congratulate them for returning back to their homelands after a long period of war," a spokesman said.
"The Afghan National Army [ANA] is ready to fill their space but they will face some problems in this area as they still lack weapons and equipment."
Afghan forces are due to take over all security operations by 2014, but BBC correspondents say they are a long way away from being ready for that.
'Gains could be threatened'Under the current draw down plan the US military aims to gradually hand over all security operations to Afghan security forces by 2014.
US military leaders are thought to have favoured a very gradual reduction in troops but other advisers advocated a more significant decrease in the coming months.
?Start Quote
End QuoteWe will hear a lot in the coming days about whether the pull-out is too quick or too slow, but it is worth remembering that we are only talking about the extra 30,000 troops Mr Obama has sent?
Mr Obama's announcement comes days after departing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates confirmed that the US was holding "outreach" talks with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
It was the first time the US had acknowledged such contact.
Earlier this month, Mr Gates said at Nato headquarters that "substantial progress" was being made on the ground in Afghanistan.
But he argued that "these gains could be threatened if we do not proceed with the transition to Afghan security lead in a deliberate, organised and co-ordinated manner".
But some believe the security gains being talked about mean a more rapid withdrawal of US forces is practical.
There is also growing political pressure for a significant withdrawal.
A bipartisan group of 27 US senators sent Mr Obama a letter last week pressing for a shift in strategy.
"Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily redeploying all regular combat troops," the senators wrote. "The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits."
While many Afghans accept that American troops are needed to defeat the Taliban, correspondents say that they resent their presence in the country.
Insurgents are to blame for most of the deaths, but killings by foreign troops generate widespread outrage.
Meanwhile, a BBC World Service poll has suggested that most people internationally support negotiations with the Taliban.
Forty percent of the 24,000 people in 24 countries surveyed backed peace talks and said the Taliban should be included in an Afghan government.
The poll, which was conducted before al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in neighbouring Pakistan, suggested that support for an immediate military pullout by Nato stood at 29%. Just 16% favoured a continued effort to defeat the Taliban.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-13851930
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