In his State of the Union address, Obama said American forces were leaving Iraq as planned while US-led troops in Afghanistan had rolled back Taliban insurgents.

"Thanks to our heroic troops and civilians, fewer Afghans are under the control of the insurgency. There will be tough fighting ahead, and the Afghan government will need to deliver better governance," he said, according to an advance copy of the speech released by the White House.

"This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead (for security)," he said.

"And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home."

Top officials have suggested the mid-2011 withdrawal date could only involve a small number of troops, with NATO leaders aiming to hand over security for to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

On Iraq, Obama said the US military was wrapping up its mission as scheduled and that troops could leave "with their heads held high."

US combat patrols had ended, violence was down and a new government had been formed, said Obama, who had strongly opposed the war before he entered the White House.

"This year, our civilians will forge a lasting partnership with the Iraqi people, while we finish the job of bringing our troops out of Iraq. America's commitment has been kept; the Iraq War is coming to an end," he said.

Citing the war in Afghanistan, Obama said the United States had "taken the fight to al Qaeda and their allies abroad."

"Our purpose is clear -- by preventing the Taliban from reestablishing a stranglehold over the Afghan people, we will deny al Qaeda the safe-haven that served as a launching pad for 9/11," he said.

Obama's speech focused mainly on the country's economic challenges and only briefly touched on Afghanistan, where roughly 97,000 troops are deployed.

The US president ordered in 30,000 reinforcements in December 2009 to try to turn around the war against Taliban insurgents.

earlier related report
Obama may expand Afghan security forces: US Senator
Washington (AFP) Jan 25, 2011 - US President Barack Obama may soon announce plans to expand Afghan security forces by roughly 70,000 over current targets by year's end as a US troop drawdown looms, a senior US senator said Tuesday.

"I would think it would be decided in the next few days," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, told reporters after a trip to Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq.

Levin said Obama had told him at the White House on Monday that such an increase, above the roughly 306,000 Afghan police and military set to be trained and equipped by 2012, was "under consideration."

"All he said is that it is under consideration, it's under review. And he left it at that, and I left it with the words, 'it's urgent to do it," because of the importance of the size of the army as well as the quality of the army and police to the success of our mission," Levin told reporters.

Asked why the decision was on hold, the lawmaker replied: "I think there may be an issue with Pakistan not wanting to see a larger Afghan army."

Levin said Pakistan officials had previously rebuffed US calls to tighten controls over their country's shared border with Afghanistan in the past by saying Afghans themselves needed to take greater responsibility.

"Well, we think Pakistan has a responsibility to stop those people. But they can't have it both ways: If they want the Afghans to take greater responsibility on their side of the border to stop the flow, then they should not object to the Afghan security forces being enlarged," said Levin.

Levin said the proposed increase "is a key part of our ticket to success in Afghanistan" ahead of the July 2011 start of a US troop drawdown, and urged Obama to announce a decision before US lawmakers start work on Washington's annual spending bills.

"We're very supportive of that," said the lawmaker, who stressed that the proposal had the support of the top US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the top uniformed US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen.

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