U.S. President Barack Obama has marked the one year anniversary of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's death with a quick trip to Afghanistan, signing a strategic pact with Kabul and delivering an election-year message to the American people that the Afghan war is winding down. In televised remarks broadcast to Americans late Tuesday from Bagram Airbase, Mr. Obama reaffirmed the transition in Afghanistan -- with U.S. combat troops completing their withdrawal and Afghans taking full security control of their country by 2014. The president said the United States will continue to support counterterrorism and training efforts in Afghanistan, but "will not build permanent bases" in the country. Hours earlier, Mr. Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement outlining the U.S. role in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
In his speech Tuesday, President Obama made clear, "our goal is not to build a country in America's image, or to eradicate every vestige of the Taliban," objectives that would "require many more years, many more dollars and many more American lives." The U.S. leader said the goal is to destroy al-Qaida. The U.S.-Afghan strategic agreement does not commit the United States to any specific troop presence but pledges American aid for Afghanistan for at least a decade after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops. Around 90,000 U.S. troops currently serve in Afghanistan. Some 33,000 American forces will have pulled out of Afghanistan by September of this year.