Report: Obama Will Pull 30,000 Troops From Afghanistan by End of 2012

Speculation abounds about how President Barack Obama will follow up his earlier promise to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July. Now comes this word from an administration official: He will send home the 30,000 surge troops by the end of 2012.

That’s the number the president will announce Wednesday when he unveils his withdrawal plan, the unnamed administration official told CNN, The New York Daily News reports.

The Los Angeles Times reports that about 10,000 troops will return by Dec. 31. The United States now has 100,000 forces in Afghanistan, including the 30,000 surge troops that Obama sent late last year.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Obama still was deciding what to do. "The president has not yet even made a decision to announce," Carney said.