国际英语新闻：Biden says U.S. initial Afghanistan withdrawal not be "token amount"

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday said the United States will start to pull its troops out of Afghanistan in 2011, and the initial withdrawal "will not be a token amount."

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Biden said "we're starting it in July of 2011, and we're going to be totally out of there, come hell or high water, by 2014."

He offered assurance that the initial withdrawal "will not be a token amount" of troops, and likely will follow the model used to draw down U.S. forces in Iraq.

Citing the Afghanistan strategy review issued this week, Biden said progress in counterterrorism effort has significantly degraded al-Qaida and the Taliban, particularly their leadership. Lagging behind, he said, is progress on the counterinsurgency front, that is eliminating militant safe havens in Pakistan and building a stable Afghan government.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday released the administration's review of his war strategy that saw the deployment of 30,000 additional troops. Obama said the war " continues to be a very difficult endeavor, but ... we are on track to achieve our goals," however, achievements made there are " fragile and reversible."

Obama said he was committed to the beginning of U.S. troops drawdown in July, 2011, but noted for the gains to be sustained over time, "there is an urgent need for political and economic progress in Afghanistan."