The Hill News

President Obama's speech laying out the pace at which U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan was panned by Republican presidential candidates, who assailed Obama for either moving too quickly or too slowly.

Both former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had more hawkish reactions to Obama's speech, which outlined a plan to remove 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and another 23,000 troops by next fall. 

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican running for president who served as Obama's ambassador to China, by contrast chided Obama for moving too slowly, joining with the likes of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), the libertarian-minded presidential candidate who's long called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

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