Obama Announced that 34,000 U.S. Troops to Exit Afghanistan Within a Year. 

Obama to Announce Return of 34,000 Troops From Afghanistan by January 2014
President Obama plans to announce in his State of Union address on Tuesday night that half of the United States force of 66,000 troops in Afghanistan will be home by early next year, according to an administration official familiar with the speech.

The decision by Mr. Obama appears to be a careful balancing of political interests and military requirements. The announcement enables the White House to say that slightly more than half of the American force — 34,000 troops — will be home by a year from now.

But the plan appears to give the military command in Afghanistan the flexibility it has long sought in determining the pace of the reductions. It appears that the command would be able to keep the bulk of the American force through the next fighting season, which ends in September and October.

White House officials did not provide a detailed timetable for withdrawals this year.

This still leave the important question of how many forces the United States and its allies should keep in Afghanistan after 2014 when the security mission is entirely the responsibility of the Afghans.