WASHINGTON, Sept 7: US President Barack Obama, while accepting his nomination for a second term in the White House, has pledged to end the war in Afghanistan.

“We’ve blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over,” Mr Obama told the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was officially declared the party’s candidate for the November 2012 presidential election.

The crowd’s warm response to the announcement reconfirmed recent opinion surveys that most Americans backed President Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

“Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did,” said Mr Obama, earning a warm applause from a large crowd which kept urging him to “move forward”.

“I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And we have,” he said, reminding Americans that if they wanted to end the Afghan war they should return him to the White House for a second term.

“I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return,” said the president as some in the crowd wiped their tears.

“In a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven,” said Mr Obama while explaining why he was more suitable than his Republican rival Mitt Romney to serve his nation.

“A new tower rises above the New York skyline, Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama Bin Laden is dead,” he said, reminding Americans that while Mr Romney opposed sending troops to Pakistan to kill America’s enemy number one, he did not.

“And so long as I’m commander-in-chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known,” said Mr Obama, rejecting the Republican charge that he had weakened America’s defence.

“My opponent said it was ‘tragic’ to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan,” he said. “Well I have, and I will.”

Mr Obama noted that his opponent planned to spend more money on military hardware than the US commanders even asked for, “I will use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work.”

Explaining why he wanted to reduce America’s military engagements abroad, Mr Obama said: “After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home.”

Although the Republican Party has attacked Mr Obama for wanting to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014, the Democrats decided to make it a major point for seeking Mr Obama’s re-election.

Unlike the Republicans, who ignored the Afghan war at their convention last week, speakers at the Democratic convention continued to underline Mr Obama’s plans for Afghanistan.

“We see a future where America leads not only by the example of power, but by the power of our example; where we bring our troops home from Afghanistan just as we proudly did from Iraq,” said Vice President Joe Biden while introducing Mr Obama.

“And after more than ten years without justice for thousands of murdered Americans, after Mitt Romney said it would be ‘naïve’ to go into Pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took President Obama, against the advice of many, to give that order to finally rid this earth of Osama bin Laden,” said Senator John Kerry who may replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Mr Obama’s second administration.