U.S. to Withdraw 33,000 Troops from Afghanistan by 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama will say in his speech to the nation on Wednesday evening (local U.S. time) that the United States will withdraw 33,000 of its soldiers from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

An official in Congress told Reuters said that Obama’s plan calls for 10,000 soldiers to leave Afghanistan before the end of 2011 and for 23,000 more to withdraw next year.