The new realities on the ground in Afghanistan are forcing the president to reconsider his plan to withdraw on the timetable he had previously set, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday.
“Various new realities associated with new times, that’s why the president considered then — is still considering — making adjustments to a plan that is two-and-a-half years old,” Carter said at the final day of the Association of the United States Army’s annual convention.
Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Wednesday that there is an “upcoming policy decision” the president will have to make with regard to troop levels in Afghanistan.
“We’ve made important progress against extremists in Afghanistan. However, there continues to be a terror threat emanating from Afghanistan,” Earnest said. “It’s not on the same scale of the risk, pre-9/11, but it’s still a risk that we do not take lightly.”
Carter said the idea that the U.S. is leaving Afghanistan is “self-defeating” and could undo what success the U.S. has had there over the past decade.
He also said he would include financial support for Afghan troops in his fiscal 2017 budget request, making it clear that he does not see the U.S. commitment to the country ending in the near future.
“I do think that we are committed to an enduring presence in Afghanistan to make good on the promise, on the tremendous incredibly skilled effort that we’ve made to date,” Carter said.
All U.S. troops are supposed to be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
The Taliban recently claimed parts of the key city of Kunduz for more than two weeks, raising concerns as to whether Afghan security forces are prepared to take over defense of their country.
Backed by U.S. airstrikes and special operations forces on the ground, the Afghan troops forced the terrorists to withdraw from the city on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
