As late as this summer, he was clinging to a plan to bring home the remaining American troops by the end of his presidency, despite appeals to reconsider from the Afghan government, US commanders and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
Advertisement
Under that plan, only a small force of about 1,000 would have been left in place to guard the U.S. Embassy by the time a new president was sworn into office in 2017.
“Sanctuaries for the Taliban and other terrorists must end”, Obama said. Speaking at Indiana University, Secretary of State John Kerry said that keeping U.S. forces in Afghanistan “is essential to give the new government of national unity the support that it needs to implement reforms and defend its population against violent extremists”. The U.S. decision neither ends in the favour of Afghanistan nor will it stop the Taliban’s “jihad” (holy war) against occupation forces in the country, the statement added. “I am extremely troubled by President Obama’s announcement that the US will abandon our planned military withdrawal from Afghanistan”. “That starts with signing the bipartisan defense bill sent to President Obama by large majorities of the House and Senate earlier this month”.
Afghan security forces have been unable to operate the advanced weaponry obtained through US aid and still largely depend on USA air power for cover.
Martin Reardon, a 21-year veteran of Federal Bureau of Investigation and the senior vice president of the Soufan Group, a strategic security and intelligence consultancy, believes this decision was taken to continue assisting and training the Afghan forces.
“By now it should be clear to the Taliban”, Obama said, that a peace deal is “the only real way to achieve the full drawdown of US and foreign troops”. Republican critics have charged that Obama withdrew troops too quickly from Iraq, precipitating the collapse of the Iraqi army and the rise of the Islamic State.
“US will not let Afghanistan be used as safe haven for terrorists”, he said. The troops will be based in Kabul and at Bagram Air Field, as well as bases in Jalalabad and Kandahar. And past leaders in Afghanistan and Iraq have been less than reliable. US troops have been stationed in the country since the fall of 2001.
Calling his decision Thursday to keep a 9,800-strong United States force in Afghanistan through much of next year “the right thing to do”, Obama acknowledged “Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be”. During the fighting, a U.S. airstrike hit a hospital, killing 22 people, including 12 Doctors Without Borders staff and 10 patients.
Advertisement
“5,500 troops will only be adequate to conduct either the counter terrorism or the train and advise mission but not both”, McCain said. This would allow the next president to reassess the situation as it exists at the end of 2016 and make decisions about our commitment to Afghanistan going forward based on the best military advice at that time.
