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The United States has decided to cut its military presence in Afghanistan in half. The decision will take effect in the next two months before Trump’s term expires. The Washington Post quoted a Pentagon source in a report Tuesday.
The report says Trump is adamant about his commitment to stop American troops fighting on foreign soil. Basically, that decision is based on that promise. However, critics say the withdrawal would benefit the Taliban.
The US military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced. US forces are stationed in the country as part of the fight against IS. Pentagon officials say a troop reduction from Iraq would not be as great as in Afghanistan. A relatively small number of troops will be withdrawn from there.
The pullout is expected to be completed by mid-January, the Associated Press reported, citing defense officials. Trump has already said that he wants to repatriate US troops from foreign soil before the big day this year.
President Donald Trump has long criticized US military intervention as too costly and ineffective. Last September, the Donald Trump administration began withdrawing troops from Iraq and before Afghanistan. However, military leaders have already been informed of plans to withdraw more troops from the two countries before January 15 next year.
The AP said the number of US troops in Afghanistan would drop from 5,000 to 2,500 and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. An executive order has already been issued, but it has not been sent to the army commanders.
The Pentagon said in September that a third of its troops would withdraw from Iraq in the coming weeks. Then it was announced that the number of troops in the country would be reduced from 5,200 to 3,000. At the time, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said that troops remaining in Iraq will continue to advise and assist Iraqi security forces in the final elimination of the militant IS group.
The US-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, calling for the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein and the destruction of weapons of mass destruction. Although Saddam Hussein was overthrown, there were no traces of weapons of mass destruction in the country.
On the other hand, US forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001. Within weeks of the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers, the United States launched an operation to eradicate Al Qaeda. The Taliban government was expelled from Afghanistan for allegedly harboring Al Qaeda. However, the Taliban regrouped and were able to take control of more than two-thirds of the country in 2016. The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in February this year in accordance with a peace agreement signed with the group.
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