Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter insisted Sunday that Afghanistan’s army was “a powerful force in their own right,” as questions swirled about the pace of the U.S. drawdown of troops from the war-torn nation.
The remarks came at the end of the Pentagon chief’s first overseas trip since being confirmed to the post earlier this month.
A day earlier, Carter said the Obama administration was “rethinking” its strategy for the removal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Improving relations with the Afghan government could convince President Obama to keep troops in Afghanistan longer but no such commitment has yet been made.
Without a change in strategy, U.S. advisory work in Afghanistan will soon begin to wind down.
“I’m not prepared to share conclusions except with [Obama], when I reach them,” Carter told reporters in Afghanistan.
“The Afghan security forces have become a powerful force in their own right, and good partners in their own way,” he added.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called on Obama to slow the pace of the troop withdrawal.
There are now 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. Obama has pledged to remove the remaining U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
Regardless, Obama’s national security advisers say the president won’t jeopardize U.S. gains in Afghanistan.
“When our presence here is reduced to something much smaller than today, we want to make sure that the Afghans themselves are able to preserve the environment which our forces have created over the last few years — one of relative security and stability,” Carter told Afghan forces. “They can’t do that without you.”
