While President Obama’s decision to increase the number of U.S. troops who stay in Afghanistan going into 2017 falls roughly in line with critics, lawmakers on Capitol Hill say the force of 5,500 troops isn’t enough to ensure the country’s security.
Obama on Tuesday said the “fragile” state of security in Afghanistan will require U.S. troops to stay in the country past 2017. “Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be,” Obama said. “Meanwhile, the Taliban has made gains, particularly in rural areas and can still launch deadly attacks in cities.”
Under the new plan, 9,800 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan for most of 2016. Those troops will be spread throughout the country conducting counterterrorism and training missions at Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
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At some point late in 2016, the number of troops will fall to 5,500 and remain there going into 2017. Officials could not provide a specific date when the drawdown would occur.
NATO partners are also expected to extend their troops’ commitment to remain in Afghanistan over that time period, though specific numbers are not yet available, said Laurel Miller, U.S. deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The revised time table means decisions about the final drawdown of troops in Afghanistan will fall to the next president.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized the president’s decision on Thursday, saying that leaving only 5,500 U.S. troops into 2017 will not be enough to conduct both the counterterrorism and training missions in Afghanistan.
“All of us want the war to be over, but after 14 years of hard-fought gains, the decisions we make now will determine whether our progress will endure and our sacrifices will not have been in vain,” the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a statement. “When the stakes are so high, it is hard to understand why the president has again chosen to force our military to shoulder a higher level of risk.”
McCain’s counterpart in the House also took issue with the plan.
“While this new plan avoids a disaster, it is certainly not a plan for success,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
But the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the decision allows U.S. forces to continue critical work with Afghan partners and send a message to enemies that there is no room for them to make gains.
“This decision also serves notice to our common enemies: Their war against the legitimate Afghan government, the Afghan people, the international community and our shared values remains futile. It is time for them to lay down their arms and enter the political process,” Gen. John Campbell said in a statement.
The president’s original plan had been to leave about 1,000 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan by the time he leaves office in early 2017 in order to protect the embassy in Kabul.
That lower level of presence was projected to cost about $10 billion a year. The new troop levels will cost $14.6 billion annually.
At the height of the war, about 100,000 U.S. troops were in Afghanistan. The American combat mission there officially ended in December after 13 years of war.
Since then, Afghan forces have taken the lead in security for their own country, Obama said. Despite Afghan troops fighting “bravely and tenaciously,” they are still not ready to take over without any American aid, especially as the Taliban tries to exploit areas where U.S. troops are pulling out, Obama said.
“The bottom line is in key areas of the country the security situation is still very fragile and in some places there’s risk of deterioration,” he said.
Speaking to an American public largely tired of war, Obama stressed that the potential outcome of a stable Afghanistan is worth the risk of putting U.S. troops in danger.
“As you are well aware, I do not support the idea of endless war,” he said. “Yet given what’s at stake in Afghanistan and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally … I am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort.”
Obama left the door open for future revisions of the drawdown plan as the situation on the ground changes, saying that Thursday’s changes “probably won’t be the last.”
Senior officials stressed that the decision on troop numbers was not linked to a specific event. However, Afghanistan recently saw two weeks of heavy fighting as the Taliban took control of parts of the city of Kunduz.
With the help of U.S. airstrikes and special operations forces on the ground, the Afghan forces were able to reclaim the city this week.
Asked about the political implications of having to go back on the president’s promise to end the U.S. involvement before leaving office, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said politics played no role in Obama’s decision.
“The only factor the president considered in making this decision was the core national security interests of the United States,” he said.
To those suggesting that the president is simply punting the problem of Afghanistan to the next commander in chief, Earnest noted that Obama took over a significant problem in the country when he took office in 2009.
As a result of Obama’s actions, the next president will have a much easier time of answering questions, like when the final drawdown to an embassy-only presence will occur.
