troops. i ve talked to senior officers who were concerned that the surge troops were pulled out during the fighting season and some of them saw that as a political move. so can you tell me, vice president biden, what was the military reason for bringing those surge troops home? the military reason by the way, when the president announced the surge, you ll remember, martha, he said the surge will be out by the end of the summer. the military said the surge will be out. nothing political about this. before the surge occurred. so you be a little straight with me here, too. before the surge occurred we said they ll be out by the end of the summer. that s what the military said. the reason for that is military follows orders. i mean, trust me, there are people that are concerned about pulling out on the fighting there are people that are concerned but not the joint chiefs. that was their recommendation in the oval office to the president of the united states of america.
some of them saw that as a political move. so can you tell me, vice president biden, what was the military reason for bringing those surge troops home? the military reason by the way, when the president announced the surge, you ll remember, martha, he said the surge will be out by the end of the summer. the military said the surge will be out. nothing political about this. before the surge occurred. so you be a little straight with me here, too. before the surge occurred we said they ll be out by the end of the summer. that s what the military said. the reason for that is military follows orders. i mean, trust me, there are people that are concerned about pulling out on the fighting there are people that are concerned but not the joint chiefs. that was their recommendation in the oval office to the president of the united states of america. i sat there. i m sure you ll find someone who disagrees with the pentagon. i m positive you ll find that within the military. but that
important milestone, almost three years since a wave of additional u.s. troops deployed to afghanistan in a surge designed to cripple the taliban, defeat al qaeda, and give afghan forces sat part they need. this morning, the last of those americans are out. it was december 1, 2009, at west point, that president obama announced the surge. and as commander in chief, i have determined it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. reporter: at that time he also announced a schedule for their withdrawal, a goal that has now been met. 33,000 u.s. troops took part in the surge. 10,000 of them were out by july of last year. and the remaining 23,000 are now gone. but in his statement, the defense secretary had a sobering reminder, saying, it is important to underscore that even as our surge troops return home, there are roughly 68,000 americans who remain in a tough fight in afghanistan, alongside their nato and afghan partners.
afghanistan, the details from the drawdown from kabul. reporter: defense secretary leon panetta calls it an important milestone, almost three years since a wave of additional u.s. troops deployed to afghanistan in a surge designed to cripple the taliban, defeat al qaeda, and give afghan forces sat part they need. forces the support they need. this morning, the last of those americans are out.last of those it was december 1, 2009, at west point, that president obama announced the surge. and as commander-in-chief i have determined it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. reporter: at that time he also announced a schedule for their withdrawal, a goal that has now been met. 33,000 u.s. troops took part in the surge. 10,000 of them were out by july of last year. and the remaining 23,000 are now gone. but in his statement, the defense secretary had a sobering reminder saying, it is important to underscore that even as our surge t
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