It will be up to Obama’s successor – the third US commander in chief to oversee the war – to decide how to proceed from there.
Advertisement
The war in Afghanistan was prompted by the Taliban refusal to surrender Al-Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 terror attacks. “I am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort”, the president said at the White House.
President Ashraf Ghani also tweeted his support for the decision. The troop number would be reduced to 5,500 beginning in 2017, assuming that the next president stays on the same course.
James Dobbins, a former United States special envoy to Afghanistan and a veteran diplomat who is now a senior fellow at the Rand Corporation, said the plan was sufficient to maintain the status quo.
Obama’s plan largely lines up with what military commanders had requested, though a few proposals have called for higher numbers.
His decision is wise and prudent, a recognition that reality sometimes trumps all else.
“In this sense, Afghanistan is a key piece of the network of counter-terrorism partnerships that we need from South Asia to Africa, to deal more broadly with terrorist threats quickly and prevent attacks against our homeland”, Obama said.
Republicans have blamed Obama’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Iraq in late 2011 for creating a vacuum that allowed the Islamic State to thrive. “Even though the Afghan government now bears primary responsibility for their country’s security, we can not turn our backs on our Afghan partners at this critical moment”. He has long talked of bringing to an end the two wars – in Afghanistan and Iraq – that he inherited.
Earnest’s remarks came after U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that he would keep 9,800 USA troops in Afghanistan through next year.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter rebuffed criticism from McCain and others over the planned 5,500 troops.
More recently, the temporary fall of the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz to Taliban forces showed how just how weak the Afghan government still is – and the importance that U.S. air power played in helping to retake the city. During the battle a US airstrike mistakenly targeted a hospital operated by Doctors Without Borders, killing 12 of the organization’s staff and 10 patients. There is no reason to believe they can hold the whole country.
Recent intense fighting has underscored the continued role of USA troops in training the still fledgling Afghan forces and in vital counterterror operations.
“It may affect other units that we’re not aware of at this point, but, again, we train every day and that’s what we do in between conflicts”, Burton said.
Notably, American troops assisted the Afghan military in forcing that retreat.
“Americans have learned that it’s harder to end wars than it is to begin them”, he said at the time.
Advertisement
Obama insisted he wasn’t disappointed to know he’ll leave office with a war he pledged to stop still underway.
