U.S. troops in Afghanistan celebrate July 4 2011.

The outgoing NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, marked American independent day in Afghanistan alongside U.S troops on Monday (July 4).

Speaking to troops at the main U.S airbase in Bagram, Petraeus said "Happy 4th of July to each and every one of you, it is obviously a tremendous honour to be celebrating our nation's 235th birthday."

U.S. Senators, John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham were also at the airbase for the celebrations.

"Part of why the American military come to Afghanistan is to protect American independence from the kinds of attack we suffered on 9/11. But we also came to protect Afghan independence from both non-state actors like the Taliban, and from neighbours like Pakistan. I just want to assure you that we learnt a lesson the last time we came to protect the Afghan independence, in that case from the Soviet Union, we left too soon and both Afghan and American people paid for it. And we are not going to make that mistake again, we are here for the long run to protect the independence of both of our countries," Lieberman said.

McCain also criticised U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to bring troops home from Afghanistan faster than the military recommended, saying it could jeopardise the next major push of the war, to unseat insurgents in the east.

"The president's decision was made without recommendation from our military commanders and I believe it poses an unnecessary risk," McCain told reporters at Bagram airbase

Extra U.S. troops ordered into Afghanistan by Obama in 2009 have mostly been fighting in the Taliban's southern heartland, where they have made some security gains, but the situation in the east of the country bordering Pakistan has deteriorated.

jrc/

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[shadowofears]

Go back to home and stop terrorizing people here