Trump administration to cut troop levels in Afghanistan despite Pentagon warnings

[Boats]

Trump administration to cut troop levels in Afghanistan despite Pentagon warnings
By: Ellen Nakashima, MIssy Ryan, Dan Lamothe & John Hudson - Washington Post 11-16-20
Re: https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...afb_story.html

Photo link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...7DWQ.jpg&w=916
Afghan security forces inspect the site of a bomb explosion near a damaged vehicle in Kabul on Nov 16. (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The Trump administration is planning to move ahead with a significant reduction of U.S. forces in Afghanistan before President Trump leaves office in January, despite months of Pentagon warnings that doing so could jeopardize prospects for lasting peace.

According to officials familiar with the discussions, the White House is preparing to announce as soon as this week plans to roughly halve the number of U.S. troops, from around 5,000 to 2,500, by the time President-elect Joe Biden assumes office on Jan. 20.

The decision to take a major step toward fulfilling Trump’s long-delayed promise to bring home troops from America’s longest war could bring to a head tensions that have been intensifying during a chaotic transition period that has plunged the Pentagon into uncertainty.

Officials cautioned that the plans from the White House, where foreign policy zigzags have been a common occurrence, could change. The planned cut was first reported by CNN.

The discussions come as violence surges in Afghanistan and the president continues to falsely assert victory in the Nov. 3 election. Trump, who fired his defense secretary and elevated loyalists at the Pentagon last week, has also blocked agencies from working with Biden’s transition team.

Days before being dismissed, former Pentagon chief Mark T. Esper sent Trump a classified memo that cautioned that conditions were not adequate to make additional troop cuts in Afghanistan, citing the possibility of undermining peace talks and a variety of other factors. His assessment was based on input from senior military leaders.

A deal struck between U.S. and Taliban negotiators in February calls for the United States to withdraw all troops by May 2021 if the Taliban meets certain conditions, including making a break with al-Qaeda.

In practice, military officials have hoped they could. But each side has accused the other of violations, and military leaders have said for months that decisions about steps to meet that withdrawal objective would be based on the situation on the ground.

Josh Dawsey, Karen DeYoung and Julie Tate contributed to this report.

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Personal note: I'm sure Biden will bring them back in once in office. To just pull out before some peace arrangement is made will only lead to slaughter of the Afhgan's by the Taliban.
And it will not look good from an international standpoint. That will be tagged as bad move on Trumps history report. Bad timing and very poor decision even the Pentagon thinks so.

Boats

[Boats]

NATO Warns of Greater Risk if U.S. Withdraws before Time form Afghanistan
By: Mohammad Arif Sheva - The Khaama Press News - 11-17-20
Re: https://www.khaama.com/nato-warns-of...nistan-345345/

FILE: Press point by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns of greater risk if the United States pulls out its forces from the country “too soon” or “uncoordinated”, said NATO in a statement Tuesday, amid expectation from Donald Trump withdrawing more troops from Afghanistan and Iraq before time.

“We have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and no NATO ally wants to stay any longer than necessary,” said Stoltenberg in a statement. “But at the same time, the price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high.”

If the US leaves Afghanistan ahead of time, it could risks the country “becoming once again a platform for international terrorists”, where ISIS could rebuild the “terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq”, according to the statement.

While the Afghan representatives and Taliban delegations started peace negotiations in Qatari capital Doha since early September, NATO said they support the peace process and “will continue to review” the level of its troops presence in Afghanistan.

“As part of this process, we have already significantly adjusted our presence,” said Stoltenberg. “We have repeatedly said that we will continue to review our troop levels.”

“We went into Afghanistan together. And when the time is right, we should leave together in a coordinated and orderly way,” he concluded.

NATO has under 12,000 troops in Afghanistan, of which more than half are non-US forces. “Even with further US [forces] reductions, NATO will continue its mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces.”

About this writer: Muhammad Arif Sheva holds a B.A degree in Journalism from Int'l Peace Leadership College Rizal, Philippines. Sheva works as an editor and content writer for Khaama Press.