Once again, the United States is delaying the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan – prolonging the United States’ longest war.
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On the other hand, if his move is as half-hearted as we think it is, he’s putting American lives on the line in a political concession meant to leave the problem for the next president.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission after 13 years of war at the end of 2014, and Afghan troops have since been in charge of the nation’s security, with help from USA and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops. According to the President, thousands of military forces will remain in the country “through most of next year”.
Nazar Mutmaeen, an Afghan analyst, said the pro-government religious scholars would describe as “unjustified” the Taliban fighting against their own forces.
To USA service members, the president said he doesn’t send them into harm’s way lightly. He said Thursday that 5,500 troops that will remain beyond 2016, and they will be present at three bases outside the capital.
It’s a test for which the Afghans have in recent months appeared ill-equipped.
“President Obama should maintain at least the current level of forces through the end of his presidency”, he said in a statement.
While the American military is working with the governments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S.is still searching for a strong partner in Syria among the many factions fighting President Bashar Assad’s government.
In his remarks, the president had a message for the Taliban and other extremist groups in announcing the delay in USA troop withdrawal. Once more the USA has slowed its drawback from Afghanistan in the face of a changing security situation.
Barack Obama pushed back hard against the war in Iraq, and promised to draw down America’s military presence elsewhere in the world, including Afghanistan. The Taliban is surging, launching successful attacks against the Afghan government.
So this might not work?
“The reality is if we don’t want Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terror… we have to do a better job of seeing the realities in Afghanistan”, he said on CNN. The US has since called the strike a mistake.
But the troops aren’t all there for training and advising, right? He kept his word on Iraq, mostly, but announced Thursday he is delaying the US pullout from Afghanistan past his last day in office in January 2017.
America’s longest war just got longer.
Even though Obama went to great lengths to emphasise that there will be no change in the scope of the mission – training and support – the decision to stay behind is a prudent one.
The administration had originally planned to keep only about 1,000 US forces post-2016, with a focus on protecting the USA embassy in Kabul.
We argue that this force is insufficient to halt the Taliban’s advance.
He said the decision was not made in consideration of the actual situation in Afghanistan. His decision will displease folks on all sides, with many Republicans feeling that the troop commitment is too small, and leaving most on the war-weary Democratic left wishing that the commander in chief had followed through on his pledge to bring the troops home.
Earnest had an answer to that.
This decision represents a failure of foreign policy.
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“If the invaders lost the war in Afghanistan with the presence of hundreds of thousands of troops, their hopes of reversing the tide with five thousand troops are also misguided”, it added. “Are they convinced that we’re going to stick it out?” he added. “Afghan forces continue to hold most major areas”.
