president? the president and his campaign are hoping so. he addressed troop withdrawal in that press conference. we re now unified behind a plan to wind down the war in afganistan. a plan that trains afghanistan security forces, transitions, and builds a partnership that can endure after our combat mission in afghanistan ends. we have transitioned, and that enabled our troops to start coming home. indeed we re in the process of drawing down 33,000 troops by the end of this summer. we agreed that afghan forces will take the lead next year in mid-2013. at that time, isap forces will have shifted from combat to a support role in all parts of the country. well, with us right now is
second, we are now unified by a plan to wine down the war in afghanistan. a plan that trains afghanistan security forces, transitions and builds a partnership that can endure after our combat mission in afghanistan ends. since last year we have been transitioning parts of afghanistan to the afghan national security forces and thatten abled our troops to come home. and we are in the process of drawing down 33,000 u.s. troops by the end of the summer. in chicago we reached agreement open the next milestone in the transition, with meetings this morning we agreed that afghan forces take the lead for combat operations next year. and at that time, the forces will have shifted from combat to support role. in all parts of the country. this will mark a major step toward the goal we agreed to in
to believe that missile defense can be an area in cooperation with russia. second, we re not unified behind a plan to responsibly wind down the war in afghanistan, a plan that trains afghan security forces, transitions to the afghans and builds a partnership that can endure after our combat mission in afghanistan ends. since last year, we ve been transitioning parts of afghanistan to the afghan national security forces, and that has enabled our troops to start coming home. indeed, we are in the process of drawing down 30,000 u.s. troops by the end of this summer. here in chicago we reached agreement on the next milestone in that transition. at the meeting this morning, we greed that afghan forces will take the lead for combat forces next year, in mid-2013. at that time, isaf forces will have shifted from combat to a support role in all parts of the country. and this will mark a major step
getting out of afghanistan a political winner for the president? the president and his campaign are hoping so. he addressed troop withdrawal in that press conference. we re now unified behind a plan to wind down the war in afganistan. a plan that trains afghanistan security forces, transitions, and builds a partnership that can endure after our combat mission in afghanistan ends. we have transitioned, and that enabled our troops to start coming home. indeed we re in the process of drawing down 33,000 troops by the end of this summer. we agreed that afghan forces will take the lead next year in mid-2013. at that time, isap forces will have shifted from combat to a support role in all parts of the country. well, with us right now is
the united states. we talk about his personal relationship with president obama and even his personal relationship with mitt romney. stand by for that as well. and the man sometimes nicknamed america s supermayor, has made a super gaffe. i m wolf blitzer in chicago. you re in the situation room. but first, through my exclusive far reaching interview, i just completed only a few minutes ago with the afghan president hamid karzai, it s his only interview while here in the united states. we sat down only moments ago, and he spoke of president obama just minutes before the interview. the three leaders are here for a meeting in chicago. listen to this. no, we didn t have a three-way meeting, we had a three-way photograph taking. just a photo opportunity? why not a meeting? why not have a three-way meeting and discuss the most important issues facing afghanistan, pakistan and the united states. it wasn t for us to decide on the three-way meeting. the united states was