Former U.S. Afghanistan commander and retired Gen. David Petraeus said Monday that with the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating, the next U.S. president should end plans to withdraw all American troops and instead make an “enduring commitment” to keep U.S. forces there to help the Afghan military battle the Taliban and other extremist groups.
Petraeus, appearing on a panel at the Brookings Institution, argued that President Obama’s policy of having constant reviews of the U.S. commitment with the aim of bringing all U.S. troops home is counterproductive, and undercutting the success of the Afghan mission.
“We should not have to go through the annual reviews to see where you are and where you are going to draw down,” Petraeus said, adding, “We should use the assets that we have there as effectively as we possibly can to support our Afghan security force counterparts.
Petraeus noted that until recently, the Obama administration did not allow the U.S. commander to order offensive airstrikes against the Taliban.
The comments come amid reports of fierce fighting in the strategic northern Afghan city of Kunduz, which the Taliban briefly occupied last year.
Petraeus said he’s been told by senior U.S. officials that American special operations forces are advising the Afghan security forces defending the city.
The former CIA director was appearing at Brookings in conjunction with a paper issued by the think tank that has the same advice to the next administration.
“We should plan for a long-term American — and coalition — role in the country that avoids the recent pattern of nearly annual reassessments of whether the United States should stay, militarily and as a major donor.”
