The United States invaded Afghanistan in the aftermath of terror attacks on September 11. In a bid to crush al Qaeda and Taliban, the US-led “war on terror” has claimed the lives of over 2,000 American troops in Afghanistan till August 2012. Moreover, as per congressional estimates, the war has cost the US over USD 440 billion (through 2011). The US has announced to hand over overall security responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. Obama, n his Democratic National Convention speech in September 2012, said: "We`ve blunted the Taliban`s momentum in Afghanistan and in 2014, our longest war will be over."

Mitt Romney has criticised Barack Obama for setting a withdrawal date for US troops in Afghanistan. Romney wants the US to assist Afghanistan build up its own military and security forces. “We do not want to see Afghanistan once again return to a Taliban dominated nation with al Qaeda and other training camps coming into the nation”. On the troop withdrawal, Romney said in the third presidential debate: "[W]hen I`m president, we`ll make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014. The commanders and the generals there are on track to do so."