President Obama has unveiled his plan tonight for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.Mr. Obama says the U.S. will pull out 10,000 troops by the end of this year, with a total of 33,000 brought home by next summer.There are currently 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and there have been demands in Congress and elsewhere for a bigger pullout.Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville was among those hoping for a larger immediate drawdown.Yarmuth, a Democrat, has criticized the war in Afghanistan as lacking a clearly-defined mission and metrics for measuring success.He and dozens of other House lawmakers from both parties sent a letter to the president Tuesday, urging him to begin a “significant and sizable” troop reduction in Afghanistan.(Information for this story also came from the Associated Press)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
