Obama to announce slower pullout from Afghanistan
The United States is reconsidering plans to withdraw nearly all
American troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.
President Barack Obama is expected to announce his new plan next week
for slowing down the pace of troop drawdown between now and the end of
2016.Obama is meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani next week in
Washington.
The White House said Friday the plan is part of an effort to ensure
Afghan forces are able to maintain security in their country.Along with
Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, Ghani is set to meet with
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew as well
as with members of Congress.
The new withdrawal plan will not require troop levels to fall to
about 5,000 by the end of this year, a pledge the US president made last
May when he laid out a schedule for ending the 14-year war.US officials
said the Obama administration is abandoning that commitment and is
poised to keep many of the 9,800 troops currently in Afghanistan well
into next year.
Ash Carter and other Pentagon leaders appear increasingly confident
that the US military will keep a robust military presence in Afghanistan
beyond year’s end.Earlier this week, President Obama reviewed
recommendations on the withdrawal timeline put forth by General John
Campbell, the top US commander in Afghanistan.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month,
Gen. Campbell said there was evidence the ISIL terrorist group was
recruiting in Afghanistan and that some Taliban members were declaring
allegiance to the Takfiri group.Members of Congress, including Sen. John
McCain, Republican of Arizona and the committee’s chairman, have also
warned against a sharp decrease in force levels this year.
HRJ News
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