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Obama to leave 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan Obama to leave 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan
(about 3 hours later)
The United States will leave 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after the final withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in December, and will gradually reduce that number to zero by the end of 2016, President Obama announced Tuesday. President Obama revealed his long-awaited plan for Afghanistan on Tuesday, announcing that a residual force of 9,800 U.S. troops will remain there for one year following the end of combat operations in December. That number will be cut in half at the end of 2015, and reduced at the end of 2016 to a small military presence at the U.S. Embassy.
The residual force will include both troops to train and advise the country’s military and a separate group of Special Operations forces to continue counterterrorism missions against what Obama called “the remnants of al-Qaeda.” The plan, despite White House warnings early this year of a possible “zero option,” is largely in line with what the U.S. military had requested. It also is in line with what NATO and other international partners said was necessary for them to retain a presence in Afghanistan.
The decision is contingent upon Afghanistan’s new president signing a bilateral security agreement that current President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign. The two candidates in a runoff election scheduled for June 14 have both said they will sign the accord. “We’re finishing the job we started” more than 12 years ago, when the United States embarked on a war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan following the September 2001 attacks against this country,” Obama said in brief remarks in the Rose Garden.
“It’s time to turn the page on more than a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on . . . wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Obama said in brief remarks in the Rose Garden. “It’s time to turn the page” from the conflicts that have dominated U.S. foreign policy for more than a decade, he said of the timetable that would end direct U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan at the end of his second term in office.
“We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America’s responsibility to make it one,” Obama added. “The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans.” The residual force, based at various locations around Afghanistan in 2015, will include troops to train and advise Afghan security forces and a separate group of Special Operations forces to continue counterterrorism missions against what Obama called “the remnants of al-Qaeda.”
Officials said the long-awaited decision came after Obama became convinced that Afghanistan’s security forces, which took the lead on security operations there last year, were on their way to self-sufficiency, and the country is on the verge of its first-ever democratic transition of power. Beginning in 2016, about half that force will go home, while the rest will be stationed only in Kabul and at Bagram air base north of the capital. At the end of that year, the force will shrink to the size of a regular armed forces assistance group, largely to handle military sales, under the authority of the U.S. ambassador.
“It’s a moment of some momentum in Afghanistan,” said an official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity in advance of Obama’s announcement. “We believe that with this announcement, we can . . . encourage that positive trajectory.” Obama said the plan is contingent upon Afghanistan’s new president agreeing to a bilateral security agreement that President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign. The two candidates in a runoff election scheduled for June 14 — Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani — have said they would sign the accord.
Obama is scheduled to make a major counterterrorism and foreign policy address on Wednesday, which officials said would broaden the specifics of Afghanistan to reflect the current threat from terrorist groups that spans from South Asia across North Africa and the Sahel region. The end of the Afghan war will allow resources to be directed to “the changing threat of terrorism, while addressing a broader set of priorities around the globe,” Obama said.
The 9,800 troops will be based at various locations in Afghanistan until the end of 2015, after which the force will be reduced by roughly half and consolidated in Kabul and at Bagram air base north of the capital. The administration has said its policies have decimated al-Qaeda’s Pakistan-based leadership, even as al-Qaeda offshoots have spread across the Middle East and Africa. Obama is expected to outline that new reality and his strategy for dealing with it in a speech Wednesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
At the end of 2016, most of those remaining troops will be withdrawn and the U.S. military presence will be confined to a defense group at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, said the official. The Afghan deployment decision is close to the recommendation of Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the commander of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan, who had asked for 10,000 to 12,000 troops.
The decision is close to the recommendation of Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the commander of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan, who had asked for 10,000 to 12,000 troops. Senior administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to focus attention on Obama’s remarks, deflected questions about how the force would be divided between the training and counterterrorism missions.
Some of Obama’s national security advisers had proposed eliminating a residual U.S. force altogether when the final combat troops are withdrawn. Until recently, CIA drone attacks on al-Qaeda and other groups in Pakistan were a major part of U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Afghanistan war theater. Several factors have led to a suspension of the drone strikes since December, however.
The United States has about 32,800 troops in Afghanistan. Although both the Pentagon and the State Department have been pressing the White House for a post-2014 decision since late last year, Dunford has internally set September as a final decision deadline. As the drawdown continues over the summer, he plans to reconfigure the current force so that those remaining at the end of the year will fit the training and counterterrorism mission Obama plans to outline. Chief among them was an agreement reached between the administration and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to limit targets to senior al-Qaeda figures, none of whom has been located since last year. At the same time, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from eastern Afghanistan has minimized the need for force protection against other Pakistan-based Afghan groups, such as the Haqqani network, that regularly attacked U.S. installations.
Several NATO and non-NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan have said they will leave modest contingents behind for training if the United States decided to do so. Most prominently, Germany is expected to continue operating a base in Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north, and Italy will likely retain its base in Herat, in the west. One senior official said the administration anticipates an ongoing, narrow focus against al-Qaeda rather than other Afghan groups, such as the Haqqanis, that are fighting for control in their own country.
During 2015, Obama’s plan will permit U.S. personnel to travel around the country from bases in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, in addition to Kabul and Bagram. Additional forces would perhaps be based in Jalalabad, near the Pakistan border. “We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America’s responsibility to make it one,” Obama said. “The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans.”
The relatively robust U.S. presence, and a specific commitment to counterterrorism operations, will leave open the possibility of continuing drone strikes on al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan. There have been no strikes in Pakistan since December, when the administration reached an agreement with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to greatly reduce the attacks. Reaction to Obama’s announcement was varied. It “unquestionably advances our national security interests in Afghanistan,” said Senate Majority leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). “It rightly places the responsibility for Afghanistan’s security with the Afghan government and security forces, while maintaining our ability to aggressively defend against terrorism.”
The U.S., German and Italian presence in Afghanistan will also allow other U.S. personnel, including from the State Department and the CIA, to remain in Afghanistan in greater numbers, with security for travel. Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) said he welcomed “clarification regarding the mission and timetable for U.S. forces in Afghanistan,” adding, “But I continue to believe that maintaining any troop presence after 2014 should be specifically authorized by a vote in Congress.” Some others called for a complete withdrawal at the end of this year.
Final post-2014 planning at both agencies has been on hold for months awaiting Obama’s decision. Negotiations on the bilateral security agreement were completed last fall, and a series of deadlines were set and ignored while Karzai’s signature was awaited. Leading a number of Republicans who denounced the decision, Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) issued a joint statement calling the “arbitrary date” for full withdrawal “a monumental mistake and a triumph of politics over strategy.”
In early spring, the administration ended talks with Karzai over the document and said it would await a new president. The initial election round in Afghanistan was held in early April and both leading candidates who are now headed for a runoff — Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani — have said they would sign it. “Wars do not end just because politicians say so,” they said.
“We have both made the case” to the White House in recent weeks, a senior State Department official said, “that since they’ve both said they’d sign, you can make the decision now.” Word of the announcement was met with skepticism within the Afghan military.
Word of Obama’s decision was met with skepticism in Afghanistan, where army officers expressed concern about complete withdrawal after 2016. “Obama said this week that he would leave Afghanistan in a responsible way. Leaving in 2016 is not responsible,” said one Afghan battalion commander who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
“Obama said this week that he would leave Afghanistan in a responsible way. Leaving in 2016 is not responsible,” said one Afghan battalion commander who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. A brigade commander noted the Afghan military’s lack of air support and heavy artillery, and said building those capabilities would be “impossible” by 2016 or 2017.
Upon hearing the announcement, other Afghan officers enumerated the young army’s weaknesses, which they said would be exacerbated after the American departure. As complete responsibility for combat operations was handed to Afghan forces last year, some U.S. officials held out hope that the Taliban would be more reluctant to target its countrymen than foreign troops. But last year’s fighting season turned out to be brutally violent for Afghan soldiers and police, hundreds of whom were killed each month.
“We face a lack of air support and a lack of heavy artillery. It is impossible to train and equip the Afghan air force and provide heavy artillery by 2016 or 2017,” said an Afghan brigade commander who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. Asked about the reason for the post-2014 timetable, a senior official said, “We never signed up to be a permanent security force in Afghanistan.” Obama decided early in his first term that his objective would not be “eliminating the Taliban and al-Qaeda,” the official said, but preventing al-Qaeda from again attacking the United States.
As combat operations were handed to Afghan forces last year, some U.S. officials held out hope that the Taliban would be more reluctant to target their countrymen than foreign troops. But last year’s fighting season turned out to be brutally violent for Afghan soldiers and police, hundreds of whom were killed each month. The official also cited the importance of “predictability,” noting that the gradual transition from U.S. and international force responsibility for operations against the Taliban began on a separate timetable early last year. “There is great utility in people knowing . . . what they’re going to be responsible for and when,” the official said.
In some cases, Afghan troops refused to leave their bases, knowing the risks of going on patrol. As foreign troops withdraw, taking their medical evacuation capacity with them, Afghan troops knows those risks will only increase. NATO welcomed the announcement, and said that planning for the “new mission” will be discussed at a meeting of alliance defense ministers in Brussels next week.
“The Taliban is a very strong still. To deal with them, Afghanistan needs American troops to be here,” said the Afghan brigade commander. Several NATO and non-NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan had said they would leave modest contingents behind for training only if the United States did so. Most prominently, Germany is expected to continue operating a base in Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north, and Italy is likely to retain its base in Herat, in the west.
Similar displeasure came from Capitol Hill. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) said he was “pleased” with the decision to leave troops in Afghanistan but that “holding this mission to an arbitrary egg-timer doesn’t make a lick of sense strategically.” “German public opinion was never very fond of this mission,” a senior German official said. “But the government can convince them that it is worthwhile to stay with a much smaller amount of troops,” probably around 800 compared with about 3,000 now, for a few more years.
“We are in Afghanistan because it was the spawning ground of al-Qaeda and the devastating attack on American soil,” McKeon said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. “Those threats still exist. We leave when the Afghans can manage that threat, rather than on convenient political deadlines that favor poll numbers over our security.” The United States has about 32,800 troops in Afghanistan. The CIA and the State Department have been pressing the White House for a post-2014 decision since late last year to facilitate their own planning.
Asked about the reason for the timetable, a senior official said “we never signed up to be a permanent security force in Afghanistan.” Obama decided early in his first term that his objective would not be “eliminating the Taliban and al-Qaeda,” the official said, but preventing al-Qaeda from again attacking the United States. The United States and other international donors have agreed to spend at least $4 billion a year to support the Afghan security forces between 2015 and 2017. Afghan security forces currently number 382,000, where an administration fact sheet indicated they are likely to remain despite earlier plans to cut the total by at least a third.
The official also cited the importance of “predictability,” noting that the gradual transition from U.S. and international force responsibility for operations against the Taliban began on a timetable early last year. “There is great utility in people knowing...what they’re going to be responsible for and when,” the official said.
In remarks to troops during his surprise visit to Afghanistan this past weekend, Obama said that the United States is drawing its mission there to a “responsible end.”
“We want to preserve the gains that you have helped to win. And we’re going to make sure that Afghanistan can never again, ever, be used to launch an attack against our country,” Obama said.
In its latest report to Congress on the Afghan war, the Pentagon said that Afghan security ministries continued to suffer from widespread corruption and nepotism, but it lauded the country’s nascent security forces for preventing insurgents from expanding their territorial reach.
The United States and other international donors have agreed to spend at least $4 billion a year to support the Afghan security forces between 2015 and 2017. Afghan security forces currently number 382,000.
Kevin Sieff and Mohammad Sharif in Kabul and Ernesto Londoño in Washington contributed to this report.Kevin Sieff and Mohammad Sharif in Kabul and Ernesto Londoño in Washington contributed to this report.