President Obama, speaking last night from Kabul, told an American audience that the new Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by him and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will usher in a “future in which war ends, and a new chapter begins.” The speech acknowledged the sacrifices made in the decade long war in Afghanistan which has become increasingly unpopular in recent months and taken the lives of 1,957 Americans.

Obama, speaking from Bagram Air Base, said:

My fellow Americans, we have traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. The Iraq War is over. The number of our troops in harm’s way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfill our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al Qaeda.

The speech emphasized the growing responsibilities shouldered by Afghan Security Forces as 23,000 U.S. soldiers return home this summer. “Nearly half the Afghan people live in places where Afghan Security Forces are moving into the lead,” said the President.

U.S. and other foreign troops will continue to train, advise, assist and, as needed, fight alongside Afghan forces as the U.S. military shifts into a support role. “As we do, our troops will be coming home. [...] And as our coalition agreed, by the end of 2014 the Afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country,” said Obama.

The speech, while acknowledging the ongoing role to be played by U.S. forces in Afghanistan until 2014, also touched on the domestic challenges facing the U.S. and the toll of a nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan and eight year U.S. presence in Iraq, where the last U.S. troops departed on December 18:

As we emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it is time to renew America. An America where our children live free from fear, and have the skills to claim their dreams. A united America of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown Manhattan, and we build our future as one people, as one nation.

Watch the full speech:

The Mitt Romney campaign issued a statement welcoming Obama’s comments from Afghanistan. “I am pleased that President Obama has returned to Afghanistan. Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our President about what is at stake in this war,” said the statement. But former Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, who has since endorsed Romney, told CNN that Obama was putting “arbitrary deadlines” on the Afghan drawdown and that Romney would have “taken a different approach” and “feels it’s important to define the mission ahead in terms of strategic outcomes, not in terms of days or months on the calendar.”

The war hawks on the right seem to like GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty. Since he launched his campaign, Pawlenty has fired off all the right rhetorical lines and the neocons are impressed. Jen Rubin at the Washington Post called him “forceful and precise on national security.”

While Pawlenty may be the neocon favorite, he’s had some trouble getting his views in order. In May, the former Minnesota governor got confused when a reporter asked him about what he’d do about the threat from Iran and — after he clarified that the reporter was indeed talking about Iran — began discussing his policy in Iraq, while referring to citizens of that country as “Iranians.”

Last night during the GOP presidential debate, Pawlenty criticized President Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal timeline, saying he would have instead, accepted the advice from Gen. David Petraeus and Adm. Mike Mullen — whom Pawlenty referred to as “General Mullen” — “and drawn them down a little slower.” But in an interview this morning with Politico’s Mike Allen, Pawlenty said Obama’s timeline is too slow. “Has the president been too slow with is Afghanistan drawdown?” Allen asked. “Yes,” Pawlenty said. However, he later pivoted back to his talking point from last night:

PAWLENTY: Gen Petraeus and Adm Mullen make a recommendation that said we understand the need to draw down from the surge level of troops and Barack Obama didn’t accept the recommendations. He’s drawn it down faster and quicker I think because of the election next year. It coincides very coincidentally to his needs on the electoral calendar next year.

Watch it:

While Pawlenty was most likely simply confused with Allen’s (fairly clear) question, confusion and incoherence are becoming the hallmark of his foreign policy views thus far in his campaign.

In a major foreign policy address in June, Pawlenty said that the United States should recall its ambassador from Syria as punishment for the government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Yet in the same speech, he said “we should press every diplomatic and economic channel to bring the Assad reign of terror to an end.” Apparently using “every” diplomatic channel available to persuade Assad to change course doesn’t include using America’s top diplomat to Syria.