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| Barack Obama to delay withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan | Barack Obama to delay withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan |
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| Barack Obama is to keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond his departure from office in January 2017, casting aside a promise to end the war on his watch. | Barack Obama is to keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond his departure from office in January 2017, casting aside a promise to end the war on his watch. |
| The US president had originally planned to pull out all but a small, embassy-based US military presence by the end of next year, but is set to announce on Thursday that 5,500 troops will remain in Afghanistan. The move follows Taliban advances, including the temporary takeover of Kunduz late last month. | |
| Reporters were briefed ahead of the announcement by senior Obama administration officials. | Reporters were briefed ahead of the announcement by senior Obama administration officials. |
| It is at least the second time that the US has had to revise its exit strategy in the face of surges by the Taliban, who, as well as temporarily taking Kunduz in the north, control large swaths of the countryside. | It is at least the second time that the US has had to revise its exit strategy in the face of surges by the Taliban, who, as well as temporarily taking Kunduz in the north, control large swaths of the countryside. |
| Related: However long it lasts, Taliban capture of Kunduz is a major blow to Afghan government | Related: However long it lasts, Taliban capture of Kunduz is a major blow to Afghan government |
| The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, signalled the change in a speech on Wednesday in which he said: “The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating. We’re not, we can’t and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we’ve had to date.” | The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, signalled the change in a speech on Wednesday in which he said: “The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating. We’re not, we can’t and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we’ve had to date.” |
| The fall of Kunduz was a major blow to the Afghan government and the US military. The American-trained Afghan army, supported by US special forces, were unable to prevent its capture. The Taliban held the city for more than two weeks, only pulling back on Tuesday. | |
| During the fighting, the US bombed a Médecins sans Frontières hospital, killing 22 people, including 12 MSF staff and 10 patients. | During the fighting, the US bombed a Médecins sans Frontières hospital, killing 22 people, including 12 MSF staff and 10 patients. |
| Reporters were told that the present force of 9,800 US troops would remain throughout most of next year, being reduced to 5,500 in 2017. Apart from special forces on the ground with the Afghan army, most of the US troops are engaged in training roles, operating from bases in Kabul and in Kandahar in the south. | Reporters were told that the present force of 9,800 US troops would remain throughout most of next year, being reduced to 5,500 in 2017. Apart from special forces on the ground with the Afghan army, most of the US troops are engaged in training roles, operating from bases in Kabul and in Kandahar in the south. |
| As well as the Taliban, the Obama administration has expressed concern about Islamic State fighters moving into the country and gaining recruits from within the Taliban. | As well as the Taliban, the Obama administration has expressed concern about Islamic State fighters moving into the country and gaining recruits from within the Taliban. |
| The president’s decision to keep the US military in Afghanistan beyond his tenure thrusts the conflict into the 2016 presidential race. The next president will become the third US commander-in-chief to oversee the war, with the options of trying to bring it to a close, maintaining the presence as Obama left it or ramping up US involvement in the conflict. | |
| The decision amounts to a passing of the buck to the next president by Obama, who has tacitly accepted that his goal of leaving Afghanistan in a stable state before he departs from office is now in tatters. | |
| Although the White House is expected to propose a further phased drawdown of troops in 2017, the reality is that the next commander-in-chief who takes charge at the beginning of that year may just as likely be forced to bolster the remaining US presence, especially if it serves as a magnet for further Taliban attacks. | |
| Following a strong performance in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate, a naturally-more hawkish Hillary Clinton will now be under pressure to distance herself from Obama’s policy in Afghanistan in much the same way as she has done by calling for more air intervention in Syria. | |
| Until now, Afghanistan has barely factored into campaign discussions on foreign policy and was not mentioned in the Democratic debate. The war was discussed only briefly in the two Republican debates that have taken place so far. | |
| The strategic U-turn by the White House follows a similar pattern to its re-entry of US troops into Iraq and will also provide plentiful political ammunition for Republican presidential hopefuls, who have already made foreign policy a major feature of their attack on Democrats. | |
| Together, the twin political pressures – both directly on Obama’s legacy and on his likely successor – could now herald a more hawkish phase in Washington’s appetite for overseas troop deployments, which had plummeted after the George W Bush presidency but have begun to harden again in response to setbacks for the Afghan and Iraqi governments. | |
| Other Nato countries with troops in Afghanistan – including Georgia, Germany, Romania,Turkey and the UK – are likely to mirror the US extension. Germany has already said it is willing to extend its presence with one year. | |
| “This was very much expected, and it’s welcome news,” said Daud Sultanzoy, an adviser to Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. “Mr Obama made a decision based on recommendations from his military commanders, and that is how it should be.” | |
| He said that while the announcement would help stabilise the country for now, the mandate of the international troops in Afghanistan remained the same. | |
| “One thing we need to remember is that while the withdrawal is delayed, the nature of the mission has not changed. It is still train, advise, assist,” he said, referring to the three elements of Nato’s Afghanistan mission since January. “It is up to us to elevate our capabilites, and it is [our allies’] responsibility to get us to that.” | |
| Sultanzoy emphasised that the war in Afghanistan included more actors than just the national government, the armed opposition and the international coalition. Countries like Pakistan, India, China, Russia and Uzbekistan all had a stake in the conflict, he said. | |
| “This is not just an Afghan war,” he said, “and it would behoove our allies to look at this war and the region and realise that this requires much larger attention.” | |
| Shukria Barakzai, an Afghan MP who has previously been critical of US plans to withdraw troops, welcomed Obama’s announcement. “It is not a choice” for the US to keep troops in Afghanistan, she said, “it is an obligation.” | Shukria Barakzai, an Afghan MP who has previously been critical of US plans to withdraw troops, welcomed Obama’s announcement. “It is not a choice” for the US to keep troops in Afghanistan, she said, “it is an obligation.” |
| Barakzai added: “The US has created a lot of problems for Afghans, ever since the cold war, so it has a responsibility to help and support Afghans.” | |
| Barakzai said that previous public announcements about reducing the US military presence had bolstered the Taliban, giving the insurgents time to prepare the offensives carried out this year. Now, she said, the US needed to be clear about what exactly its troops were going to contribute to Afghanistan, with military power alone not sufficient. | |
| “I believe the US should focus more on building the infrastructure of the Afghan economy. One main reason for the war is the poor economy,” she said. | “I believe the US should focus more on building the infrastructure of the Afghan economy. One main reason for the war is the poor economy,” she said. |
| Cautiously welcoming Obama’s decision, Abdul Waheed Wafa, executive director of the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University, said that although the proposed 5,500 troops would not be enough to sufficiently train government troops and quell the insurgency, “it will be a big boost to the morale of the Afghan national security forces”. | |
| “It will not deter the Taliban’s ambition to gain more territory,” he said, “but it will be a message to them that the international and especially the American commitment to Afghanistan will remain, and it will slow the pace of the Taliban.” | |
| For several years, the prospects of the US withdrawal had loomed over Afghanistan, while the country struggled with a poor economy, deteriorating security situation and a weak government, Wafa said. | |
| “Currently, Afghanistan is facing a lot of challenges at once,” he said. “Giving the troops one year more is good enough for the moment. And delaying the troops also means that President Obama listens to his generals, who always said we should withdraw based on the situation on the ground.” |