House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy praised President Obama’s decision to keep troops in Afghanistan Thursday, but warned against an “arbitrary drawdown” in 2016.
McCarthy, R-Calif., issued a statement following Obama’s Thursday announcement that he was delaying plans to pull all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of his term.
Instead, Obama said he would keep nearly 9,800 troops in the region until October 2016 and then cut back to 5,500 troops in early 2017.
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McCarthy warned against the planned reduction, citing Taliban gains in Afghanistan.
“The president should not continue his arbitrary troop drawdown from 9,800 troops to 5,500 in 2016 until conditions on the ground and U.S. national security interests allow for further reduction,” he said.
McCarthy said the decision to reduce troop numbers should instead be left to the next president.
“After the Taliban overran the northern city of Kunduz and is threatening more districts in Afghanistan than at any time since 2001, we should not be scheduling a drawdown,” McCarthy said.
