Transcript of: Obama: Plans on track to withdraw troops
BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
We shift gears now to the war in
Afghanistan
.
President Obama
said today that
General David Petraeus
won't, quote, "miss a beat" in taking command there. And at a joint news conference with the Russian President
Medvedev
,
President Obama
made clear that this
July 2011
deadline does not mean large numbers of American troops will then be coming home from
Afghanistan
.
President BARACK OBAMA:
We did not say that starting
July 2011
suddenly there would be no troops from the
United States
or allied countries in
Afghanistan
. We didn't say we'd be switching off the lights and closing the door behind us.
WILLIAMS:
You'll recall
General Petraeus
said pretty much the same thing testifying on
Capitol Hill
last
“ ”