President Obama pledged that Afghanistan will no longer “be a source of terrorist attacks again,” a week before the U.S. is set to end its combat mission in the Middle Eastern nation.
“We’ve been in continuous war now for over 13 years. Next week we will be ending our combat mission in Afghanistan,” Obama told troops in Hawaii late Thursday, celebrating Christmas.
“Because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in the armed forces, Afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country,” he said. “We are safer. It’s not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again.”
Though the American combat mission in Afghanistan is nearly completed, at least some troops are scheduled to stay in the nation until the end of 2016.
However, Republicans argue that the major drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will create another hotbed for terrorist activity in the Middle East, as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria poses a major security threat to the region.
And the president acknowledged that work remains in Afghanistan and other nations where the U.S. has sent thousands of troops and spent billions of dollars.
“We still have some very difficult missions around the world, including in Iraq,” the president said. “We still have folks in Afghanistan helping the Afghan security forces. We have people helping to deal with Ebola in Africa and obviously we have folks stationed all around the world. But the world is better, it’s safer, it’s more peaceful, It’s more prosperous and our homeland is protected because of you and the sacrifices each and every day.”
The president and his family are expected to vacation in Hawaii through Jan. 4.
