Obama slows troop pullout from Afghanistan

President Barack Obama announced today he will not bring as many U.S. troops home from Afghanistan as he had hoped. By the end of his term, 8,400 military personnel will remain in the country, just shy of 3,000 more than the 5,500 he’d hoped to leave there. Obama, who had vowed in taking office to end the war in Afghanistan, sounded more pragmatic today: “We have to deal with the realities of the world as it is. We can’t forget what’s at stake in Afghanistan. This is where al Qaeda is trying to regroup, this is where ISIL continues to try to expand its presence.” The conflict in Afghanistan has become the longest war in U.S. history. It began in 2001 shortly after 9/11, and at its height in 2010, the United States had 100,000 troops in the fight.