WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Reversing policy on Afghanistan, President Barack Obama announced yesterday he will prolong the 14-year-old U.S. military engagement there, effectively handing off the task of pulling out troops to his successor.
Calling it a “modest but meaningful” adjustment to winding down the American presence in Afghanistan, Obama said Afghan forces were not yet as strong as they needed to be given a “very fragile” security situation and the United States will maintain a force of 9,800 through most of 2016.
Obama had previously aimed to withdraw all but a small U.S.-embassy based force in the capital, Kabul, before he leaves
office in January 2017. Under the new plan, troops will be drawn down to 5,500 starting sometime in 2017 and will be based at four locations – Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
Obama has been under pressure from his military advisers, Republicans, and a bipartisan group of national security experts to keep U.S. forces in Afghanistan, particularly as Afghan forces have struggled in assaults from Taliban militants, who briefly took over the northern city of Kunduz.
Yesterday, Republican critics warned against rushing to cut troops in 2017. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the proposed 5,500 U.S. troops would be inadequate to handle both counterterrorism missions and training and advising Afghan troops.
McCain said it was unlikely that senior military leaders and commanders on the ground had recommended this force level, adding, “It would have been far better to halt all further troop withdrawals and allow President Obama’s successor to determine what is warranted based on conditions on the ground.”
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter rebuffed criticism from McCain and others over the planned 5,500 troops.
“We do look at it as enough. We did a lot of homework on this,” Carter told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said U.S. allies would also offer a significant contribution of forces but declined to offer details.
Obama, a Democrat, has faced steady criticism from Republicans on security issues as he has wound down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that he inherited when he took office in 2009.
In his remarks yesterday, he focused on the rationale for delaying a complete withdrawal, telling Americans that he did not support the idea of “endless war” but arguing Afghanistan’s stability is vital to U.S. security. Troops would remain out of combat roles, focused on training and advising Afghan forces, and ensuring that any al Qaeda remnants do not threaten U.S. security, he said
