As predicted ?
The US/NATO military presence in Afghanistan is NOT gonna disappear …
Trump has outed , as usual, a policy position….The word is around 8,600 troops leaving the country out of 13,000 to 14,000 currently there…
The Pentagon is NOT happy with this, but one would guess that with Trump looking for something?
Some troops will be sent home…
But there will be an American (And other NATO troops) in the country long after Donald Trump has left the stage….
The U.S. plans to cut its military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 troops, President Donald Trump said today in the first on-the-record confirmation of the number.
“We’re going down to 8,600 and then we’ll make a determination from there as to what happens,” Trump told Fox News radio.
The Pentagon has not disclosed the number of troops it plans to leave in Afghanistan if administration negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad reaches a deal with Taliban representatives in Qatar. However, defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity have floated the 8,600 figure before. The Pentagon’s official current troop number is 14,000, although defense officials have said the true figure is closer to 13,000.
Trump also suggested some U.S. counterterrorism forces would remain in Afghanistan after a withdrawal. “We’re going to keep a presence there,”….
Another Update…
There WILL be NO complete withdrawal like Trump advertised….
The U.S. would reportedly withdraw nearly 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within five months under a draft peace deal with the Taliban.
The deal, which took months of negotiations, still requires President Trump’s approval, Reuters reports. Afghan President Ashram Ghani has been briefed on the accord and will reportedly look it over in detail before weighing in.
In addition to the troop withdrawal, if the deal is signed the Taliban will not allow militants to use Afghanistan to plan attacks on the United States or its allies, Reuters reports. The agreement also includes a provision for “intra-Afghan” talks to end the clash between the Taliban and Kabul’s Western-backed government.
Ghani has met with special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and plans to “study and assess” the specifics of the agreement, according to Reuters.
A spokesman told reporters that “for us, a meaningful peace or a path to a meaningful peace is the end of violence and direct negotiation with the Taliban.”
The United States has about 14,000 troops in America’s longest war, spanning 18 years, on a mission of training, advising and assisting Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban, as well as conducting counterterrorism missions against groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS….
More..