Barack Obama is to announce sufficient progress has been made against the Taliban in Afghanistan to bring home all of the 33,000 US troops dispatched over the past 18 months by the end of next year.
n keeping with agreements reached with David Cameron, he is also likely to set out a path to ending the US combat role by the end of 2014 and withdrawing the majority of the current 100,000 US deployment.
In a national address from the White House Mr Obama will warn that it is in the long term interests of the United States to maintain a sizeable troop presence on the ground to provide training and supervision to the Afghan army.
It is expected that 10,000 of the "surge" forces will be pulled out this year, half next month and half in the winter, though White House aides said the numbers had not been finalised.
That would go against the wishes of Gen David Petraeus, the US commander in Afghanistan, who has favoured withdrawing only 5,000 in 2011.
But it would represent a compromise between the views of the military and civilian advisers in the White House and members of Congress who favour a speedier exit. It would also give the military close to its maximum capacity for this year's and next year's current warm weather fighting season.-tele
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