Summary: President Obama announced that he has a plan to shrink the U.S troops in Afghanistan to 9,800 by the start of next year, from current force of 32,000 .  His aim is to end the war in in Afghanistan which has been lasting for 15 years. He will withdraw all of the troops from Afghanistan before he ends his president’s career.

Reaction:  My first impression to this article was worry. It is said that U.S plays an important role in maintaining peace in the Middle East. What happens if the troops in Afghanistan leave the area?  There are some military bases in Saudi Arabia, but is it enough? I worry about these issues, because gasoline price is boosting  nowadays in Japan. U.S Army protects the sea lane at the Strait of Hormuz (only access  to the Gulf States by ship,) but can they preserve the peace after they leave Afghanistan? If not, the gasoline price in Japan can increase even more,  which can damage my wallet badly.

Another concern is the gaining power of extreme Islamic group called ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq & Syria. ) They have taken over some areas in Syria and Iran and claimed the establishment of “Islamic State.” The group has already done some extreme actions in the Middle East, and Africa, which has led to a large number of deaths. Therefore, much more peace keeping action is required in the countries around that area. My opinion is exact opposite with the content in the article; there are much necessity of U.S army’s  (“The World’s Police”) power in the Middle East to go against such  group.