that is serious about trying to deliver security and the prospects of a better life for the afghan people. we have a clear majority of the afghans who want to partner with us and the international community to achieve those goals. we have a bilateral security arrangement that ensures that our troops can operate in ways that protect them while still achieving their mission. and we ve always known that we had to maintain a counterterrorism operation in that region in order to tamp down any reemergence of active al qaeda networks or other networks that might do us harm. so this is consistent with the overall vision that we ve had. and, frankly, we anticipated, as we were drawing down troops, that there would be times where we might need to slow things down or fill gaps in afghan capacity.
they served there with extraordinary skill and valor, and it s worth remembering especially the more than 2,200 american patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in afghanistan. i visited our troops in afghanistan last year to thank them on behalf of a grateful nation. i told them they could take great pride in the progress that they helped achieve. they struck devastating blows against the al-qaeda leadership in the tribal regions, delivered justice to osama bin laden, prevented terrorist attacks and saved american lives. they pushed the taliban back so the afghan people could reclaim their communities, send their daughters to school and improve their lives. our troops trained afghan forces so they could take the lead for their own security and protect afghans as they voted in historic elections leading to the first democratic transfer of power in their country s
this is where our focus on anti-terror with a 10,000-man force when i was there in 2003, we were very effective. we were winning the war by the fact we had a very low footprint. the afghans were mostly in charge of what was going on, and i think that s the right answer here. the right answer is to push them into the front, and i agree with michael. the kunduz thing, while tragic, is exactly how we should be fighting the war. the hospital getting hit is bad, but us working with the afghans, them in the lead, us supporting them on the periphery is the right way to go. it s their country. and, again, we cannot abandon our interests because we don t want that safe haven again, but at the same time we have to push them forward to reconciling with the taliban and moving forward with their own progress. jenna: michael, a two-part question, and i always do this to you, i apologize. i m curious if you could comment a little bit about what tony just said about why this makes us safer when it f
and the strong arer our unity will strong arer our unity will grow. only if these things happen will afghanistan be able to stand up for itself. my fellow americans, after so many years of war afghanistan will not be a perfect place. it s a poor country that will have to work hard on its development. there will continue to be contested areas. but afghans like these are standing up for their country. if they were to fail, they would endanger the security of us all. and we ve made an enormous investment in a stable afghanistan. afghans are making difficult but genuine progress. this modest but meaningful extension of our presence, while sticking to our current, narrow
we also discussed american support of an afghan-led reconciliation process. by now it should be clear to the taliban and all who oppose afghanistan s progress the only real way to achieve the full drawdown of u.s. and foreign troops of afghanistan is through a lasting political settlement with the afghan government. likewise, sanctuaries for the taliban and other terrorists must end. next week i ll host prime minister sharif of pakistan, and i will continue to urge all parties in the region to press the taliban to return to peace be talks and to do their part in pursuit of the peace that afghans deserve. in closing, i want to speak directly to those whose lives are most directly affected by decisions i m announcing today, to the afghan people who have suffered so much. americans commitment to you and