US Presidency
2011

Today, I want to talk about this change the forces that are driving it and how we can respond in a way that advances our values and strengthens our security. Now, already, we've done much to shift our foreign policy following a decade defined by two costly conflicts. After years of war in Iraq, we've removed 100,000 American troops and ended our combat mission there. In Afghanistan, we've broken the Taliban's momentum, and this July we will begin to bring our troops home and continue a transition to Afghan lead. And after years of war against al Qaeda and its affiliates, we have dealt al Qaeda a huge blow by killing its leader, Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden was no martyr. He was a mass murderer who offered a message of hate â€“ - an insistence that Muslims had to take up arms against the West, and that violence against men, women and children was the only path to change.