Barack Obama came to office vowing to end both US foreign wars – and it looks like he will pull it off. In his first term the American president withdrew the last US forces from Iraq. By the end of his second, all those remaining in Afghanistan will have left. From 180,000 troops in both countries to zero within eight years is a promise kept.
But questions linger about what is driving Mr Obama’s timetable. His impatience to leave Iraq helped deliver that country into Iran’s sphere of influence. And the desire to quit Afghanistan altogether could jeopardise the US-led alliance’s hard-won gains there.
Mr Obama is to be congratulated for setting clear goals and sticking to them. But his West Point speech has done little to dispel the suspicion that priorities are shaped more by US politics than facts on the ground. The same could be said of Mr Obama’s conduct of foreign policy in general – good on the big objectives but susceptible to the latest poll.