Context
US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday pressurized the administration of President Obama on its Afghan War strategy, insisting that troop pullout shouldn’t be based on “political calculations”. Boehner headed a six-member US congressional delegation to visit Afghanistan this week, and held meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and David Petraeus, the Commander of US forces in Afghanistan. The Obama administration plans to begin troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July this year, with the aim of handing over security responsibility to Afghanistan’s armed forces by 2014. Republicans have expressed their concerns over the timetable, arguing it could undermine the fragile progress made by the US there.
