President Obama’s decision to withdraw just 1,400 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year raises a number of questions, including: What were those 1,400 troops doing and why is their contribution no longer needed?
The president had previously announced his intention to reduce the U.S. troop level in Afghanistan from 9,800 to 5,500 by 2017. His decision to keep 8,400 troops there through his departure from office next year was portrayed by Obama, and his aides, as the latest in a series of pragmatic adjustments that demonstrates he’s open to advice from his commanders, and willing to take into account the situation on the ground.
But the White House was unable or unwilling to say how the mission would change with the departure of 15 percent of the U.S. troops.
Senior administration officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity on a conference call insisted the 8,400 number was “not about calibrating how many troops we can reduce,” but the result of a calculation of how many troops were needed to both support the Afghan national security forces, and conduct unilateral counterterrorism operations.
But when pressed, administration officials could not explain how either mission had changed in a way that would permit the reduction of hundreds of troops.
“It’s just the matter that we can reduce that by a small amount while showing that we’re continuing both of those missions with the appropriate resourcing and effectiveness,” the official said.
In his public remarks, Obama admitted the security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious, and that Afghan forces are still “not as strong as they need to be.”
It still raised questions, including some from Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “It is difficult to discern any strategic rationale for withdrawing 1,400 U.S. troops by the end of the year,” he said.
Another question is whether the 15 percent troop cut is supported by U.S. commanders, or is a compromise to bend to political pressure from the White House anxious to show progress on ending U.S. involvement in the war that has stretched to 15 years.
The previous Afghanistan commander, Gen. John Campbell, was clear he wanted to hold on to the full 9,800 troops as long as he could, and his successor Afghan commander, Gen. John “Mick” Nicholson, was thought to hold the same view.
President Obama said his decision was based on the recommendation of Gen. Nicholson, as well as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford.
But White House officials made it clear that Nicholson’s recommendations were not made directly to the president, and instead filtered through the office of the Secretary of Defense, and that in the end it was Carter’s recommendation that Obama accepted.
The about face by Obama drew lukewarm praise from McCain, who just returned from visiting U.S. troops in Kabul.
“While I believe conditions on the ground warranted retaining the current force level, the decision to retain 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan into next year is certainly preferable to cutting those forces by nearly half,” McCain said in a statement.
