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The United States military announced on Tuesday that thousands of American troops are coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq.
The American military has been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 when it led an international force to knock the ruling Taliban group out of power.
The Taliban were sheltering Al-Qaida terrorists who were responsible for the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The U.S. military has been involved in Iraq since 2003 when it led an international force to knock Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of power.
The American government accused him of sheltering terrorists as well, in addition to building illegal weapons of mass destruction though American forces did not find those weapons after the conflict began.
The numbers of U.S. service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan have fluctuated over the years. Currently, there are about 4,500 American troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 in Iraq. The Trump Administration plans to withdraw around 2,000 from Afghanistan and 500 from Iraq in the weeks ahead leaving about 2,500 forces in each country. A senior U.S. defense official says the reduction in forces is consistent with President Trump's promise to bring troops home from the two nations.
And the Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense says America is on the verge of defeating the Al-Qaida terrorist group. But critics of the withdraw, including some Republican lawmakers, say it's not the right time to reduce U.S. troop numbers in these countries and that the decision would come as good news to terrorist groups. The withdraw of many American troops is expected to be completed by January 15th of next year.
