U.S. President Barack Obama announced that 33,000 troops will leave Afghanistan within a year, as part of a transition that will hand over security to the Afghan military by 2014.
The initial drawdown will see 10,000 U.S. troops leave the war-torn nation by the end of the year, as the White House grapples with a new conflict in Libya and mounting debt issues that have resulted in political deadlock in Washington. Another 20,000 would leave by next summer.
"After this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan Security forces move into the lead," Obama said in Washington on Wednesday.
"Our mission will change from combat to support. By 2014, this process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security."
Obama also spoke about the World Trade Center attack that occurred nearly 10 years ago, and how it led directly to the war in Afghanistan as the U.S. hunted al Qaeda and their leader Osama bin Laden.
The hunt ended last month when bin Laden was killed across the border in Pakistan during a raid by a Navy SEAL raid.
"The information that we recovered from bin Laden's compound shows al Qaeda under enormous strain," said Obama.
Over the past decade, Obama said that the U.S. has spent a trillion dollars on war, and he stressed that now is the time to turn attention back to nation building at home.
Since taking office, Obama has tripled the number of Americans serving in Afghanistan, as he has sought to gain momentum in a costly fight that has dragged on for nearly a decade.
Almost a third of the 100,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Afghanistan were brought in as part of a "surge" of troops that Obama sent to the front lines at the end of 2009.
Since then, the U.S. president has cited gains in dismantling al Qaeda.
But with polls showing a war-weary U.S. public favouring a troop withdrawal, Obama is now bringing troops home.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates has admitted that Obama faces a lot of reservations in the Congress about the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. level of commitment.
For the Afghan government, the decrease in U.S. troops comes at a time when its own army is taking on more responsibilities, including the care of five provincial capitals and two provinces it will take charge of next month.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi of the Afghan Defence Ministry said he had confidence that Afghan forces can pick up the slack for the departing U.S. forces.
"There will be some battles, there will be suicide attacks and bomb attacks," Azimi said.
"But we in the Afghan forces are prepared to replace the foreign forces and I'm confident the army has enough capacity and ability."
Obama's own party members believe that he should bring the troops home faster.
"I am glad this war is ending, but it's ending at far too slow a pace," said Sen. Barbara Boxer.
And Nancy Pelosi, the party's top member in the House of Representatives said: "We will continue to press for a better outcome."
Still, 5,000 troops will head back to the U.S. this summer, while another 5,000 withdrawing by the end of the year.
It's expected that a sizeable U.S. force will remain, however.
"Of course, huge challenges remain," Obama said.
"This is the beginning -- but not the end -- of our effort to wind down this war. We will have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we have made while we draw down our forces and transition responsibility for security to the Afghan government."
Though questions remain about the ability of Afghan forces to step up to the job of securing their own borders, Obama appeared to lower expectations over the short-term.
"We will not try to make Afghanistan a perfect place," Obama said.
