The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is pushing President Obama for a decision on how many U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan beyond 2016 by next month’s NATO summit in Warsaw.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., wrote in the letter that the president must use the summit in early July to show NATO allies that the U.S. is committed to Afghanistan, and said he should not delay this “critical decision” beyond that timeline.
“I write to express my deep concern about the situation in Afghanistan, and the current uncertainty regarding the U.S. commitment to maintain forces sufficient to secure our national security interests in the region,” Corker wrote in the letter.
“Warsaw represents the best opportunity to generate the essential continued support of each of our allies in this endeavor. You can foster this by delivering a clear message about U.S. leadership and commitment in the effort to secure a stable and democratic Afghanistan,” he continued.
There are currently about 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but that number is expected to draw down to just 5,500 by the end of this year.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who participated in a NATO defense ministerial in Brussels earlier this week, said allies should have “no doubt” about the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan.
“I’m sure that the success NATO has had in Afghanistan, the new authorities provided to U.S. forces by the president for this fighting season, as well as planning for future years will all be discussed more at the Warsaw Summit next month,” Carter said during a press conference at the close of the meetings.
A senior NATO diplomat at the ministerial in Brussels said he expected officials to announce at Warsaw that the alliance can maintain its current force structure in Afghanistan even with the expected U.S. drawdown. That means NATO will maintain a “hub” in Kabul and Bagram, as well as four regional posts around the country, including ones in Kandahar and Jalalabad that are run by the U.S.
“What I’m forecasting is that three weeks from now, that process will result, and we will still be in the hub and four spokes. I believe we’ll have sufficient resources,” the diplomat said. “Now, how much we do and how we do it, we’ll have to adjust to the troops available.”
The diplomat also said Obama’s willingness to revise the troop drawdown in the past demonstrates that he will change the plan again if he feels that would be in the best national security interest of the country.
The president already announced a step up in the air campaign in Afghanistan, as well as the capability for U.S. forces to accompany traditional Afghan forces, in addition to the advise and assist missions U.S. forces have been conducting with Afghan special operators.
