But military leaders argued for months that the Afghans needed additional assistance and support from the U.S.to beat back a resurgent Taliban and hold onto gains made over the past 14 years of American bloodshed and billions of dollars in aid.
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“The President will announce the results of what has been extensive and months long review”, a senior administration official said.
For weeks, US officials have hinted at the policy shift.
“While I am glad President Obama has dropped his plan to abandon the region entirely, if he is truly committed to fighting terrorism and securing a stable Afghanistan, he shouldn’t shortchange what our military commanders have said they need to complete the mission”, Bush said in a statement. The White House also has been buoyed by having a more reliable partner in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who succeeded the mercurial Hamid Karzai previous year.
“The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating”, defence secretary Ash Carter said during a speech yesterday at the Association of the US Army. “We’re not, we can’t, and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we’ve had to date”.
The Taliban made headlines recently by capturing the northern city of Kunduz, the group’s biggest military victory since 2001.
The fact that the most memorable USA contribution to the battle for Kunduz was the destruction of a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital with the loss of at least 22 lives, none of them insurgents, only emphasised how hapless and haphazard the USA mission in Afghanistan has become. It will be up to US military commanders to determine when to reduce that number to the 5,500 level.
Iraq: Obama’s decision to keep troops in Afghanistan comes in the wake of the bitter experience in Iraq, where all USA combat forces were withdrawn at the end of 2011. 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. Until now, Afghanistan has barely been a factor in the 2016 presidential campaign. That commitment is also expected to last beyond Obama’s presidency. Until now, Afghanistan has barely factored into campaign discussions on foreign policy and was not mentioned in Tuesdays Democratic debate.
October 15, 2015: In a reversal, Obama says the situation is too fragile for the American military to leave. A force of 5,500 troops will still be there in 2017, when Mr Obama leaves office.
The troops will root out al Qaeda fighters and other militants who have now found a foothold in Afghanistan, as well as continue to train and advise Afghan security forces, officials said. Officials said North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies had expressed support for extending the troop presence in Afghanistan, but they did not outline any specific commitments from other nations.
December 2002: The USA ends the year with about 9,700 troops deployed, mostly going after Taliban insurgents.
Pressed by Yahoo News to substantiate that claim, a spokesman for the National Security Council listed Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
Upending the troop withdrawal decision, however, carries broad political implications. “This year we will bring America’s longest war to a responsible end”, he declared then. And he noted Thursday that the decision will mean that a few troops will rotate back into the country.
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“Today’s decision from the president to adjust our troop presence in Afghanistan honors that sacrifice (of USA troops) and gives us a chance to finish what we started”, Carter said at the Pentagon. The second part of the US mission is training and assisting Afghan security forces, which are now in charge of combat operations across the country.
