The Times reports that a new paper by the Atlantic Council, which calls for current force levels to be maintained, has earned the signatures of more than 20 former senior officials, including Clinton-era Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
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In a series of quick strikes, ISIL fighters began driving out local Taliban units, and officials say the splinter group now has a clear foothold across several districts in eastern Nangarhar province, in rugged terrain on the border with Pakistan that had always been mostly out of government control.
Al-Qaida operatives are still finding havens in the mountains of Afghanistan, and the ISIL has gained a toehold by recruiting disaffected Taliban, opening a treacherous new chapter in the war.
Even if financially tired and battle worn out, the USA having invested trillions of dollars during the last 13 years or so and coalition troops taken over 2600 casualties during Operation Enduring Freedom, must not now shy away from working towards a United Nations led process to bring lasting stability and peace to Afghanistan.
Third, Carter said he will include in his 2017 defense budget submission to the White House “critical financial support” to the Afghan security forces to help it maintain its numbers of 352,000 in 2017 and beyond. The Central Intelligence Agency also wants a larger presence to help protect its assets in Afghanistan.
The USA has been on a long trajectory of reducing military presence inside of Afghanistan, and the question is for the future, what does that military presence look like, if there is one, that is consistent with the need to continue to offer training and advice to the Afghan national security forces and to carry out counterterrorism operations, he added.
Obama remains opposed to maintaining the current deployment of 9,800 USA soldiers, but is seriously considering retaining a counter-terrorism force of no more than 5,000 soldiers, according to reports from both the Times and Washington Post. The USA could leave anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 troops in the country. “However, there continues to be a terror threat emanating from Afghanistan”.
Administration officials have been recently hinting at leaving a US troop presence in Afghanistan after 2016.
Afghanistan’s deputy army chief General Murad Ali Murad said on Wednesday his forces had pushed back the Taliban in Kunduz province.
He argued that Afghanistan may be the most democratic country in the Muslim world today, and that its government was unambiguously the most pro-American.
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Two ominous developments have taken place in the last six months in Afghanistan.
