in VOA Special English.President Obama saysthere is enough progressin Afghanistan to removeabout one-third of American troopsby September of next year.Mr. Obama announced his planWednesday night.Earlier that day he spoke to VOA.BARACK OBAMA: "Keep in mindwe're talking aboutten thousand troopsby the end of this year,an additional twenty-three thousandby the end of next summer.And we'll still have sixty-eightthousand US troops there,in addition to all the coalitionpartner troops.So there is still goingto be a substantial presence.But what it does signal is,is that Afghans are slowlytaking more and more responsibility."The plan will bring homeall of the extra troopshe ordered sent to Afghanistaneighteen months ago.They will start leaving in July.And Mr. Obama says American troopswill continue coming homeas Afghan security forcesmove into the lead.He calls this a phasedtransition process in a missionthat will changefrom combat to support.This process will be completeby twenty-fourteen, he says,and the Afghan peoplewill be responsiblefor their own security.Mr. Obama said peacein Afghanistan will requirea political settlementwhich could include the Taliban.BARACK OBAMA: "We will encouragethe Afghans, and we ourselveswill talk to anybody.But they are going to have tobreak ties with al-Qaida,they are going to have to pledgeto abide by the Afghan constitutionand they will have to cease violenceas a means of bringingabout political power."On the subject of Pakistan,Mr. Obama said he thinksAmerica's relationship"has become more honest over time."BARACK OBAMA: "And that raisessome differences that are real.Obviously, the operationto take out Osama bin Ladencreated additional tensions,but I had always been very clearto Pakistan that if we ever found himand had a shot, that we would take it."American special forceskilled the al-Qaida leader in Mayin a secret raid on the housein Pakistan where he lived for years.President Obama said Pakistannot only has a responsibility,but also a deep interest in dealingwith terrorist elementsstill in its territory.BARACK OBAMA: "But overall,Pakistan has cooperated with usin our intelligence-collection efforts,in striking at high-value targetswithin Pakistan.We think that no countryhas suffered morefrom terrorist attacks than Pakistan."In his speech this week,Mr. Obama said the removal of troopswill start "from a position of strength."He said al-Qaida is undermore pressure than at any timesince the attacks on the United Stateson September eleventh, two thousand one.BARACK OBAMA: "The goal that we seekis achievable,and can be expressed simply:No safe haven from which al-Qaidaor its affiliates can launch attacksagainst our homeland or our allies.We won't try to make Afghanistana perfect place.We will not police its streetsor patrol its mountains indefinitely.That is the responsibilityof the Afghan government."The president said thatafter ten years of war,America must now investin its own people.BARACK OBAMA: "America,it is time to focuson nation-building here at home."Some members of Congresswant a faster troop withdrawal.Others say a quick withdrawalcould threaten progress.A similar debate is saidto be taking placeamong the president's top advisers.The latest Pew opinion surveyof Americans found for the first timethat a majority say troopsshould be brought home as soon as possible.And that's IN THE NEWSin VOA Special English.You can watch the president's speechand his interviewwith VOA's Andre de Nesneraat 51voa.com.