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The US administration of Donald Trump has announced that by January 15 it will withdraw half of its troops in Afghanistan, invaded by the United States almost twenty years ago, from 5,000 troops to about 2,500. The decision had been anticipated by some newspapers and was confirmed between Tuesday November 17 and Wednesday 18 by the new Secretary of Defense, Christopher C. Miller. The new secretary added that by the same date the US military presence will also be reduced in Iraq and Somalia, but with more contained cuts.
In recent months, Trump had promised on several occasions to gradually reduce the commitment of the US military in Africa and the Middle East, even going as far as hypothesize – a month before the presidential elections, then lost to Democratic candidate Joe Biden – the complete withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan “by Christmas.” Several analysts believe that Trump is simply trying to keep part of his word, but many fear that his decision could have negative consequences in the short and medium term.
In early 2020, after years of grueling negotiations, the United States had reached an agreement with the Taliban, an extremely radical political-terrorist and Islamist group, to leave the country in the course of 2021. The Taliban had pledged to lead conducting peace negotiations with the Afghan central government and distancing itself from Al Qaeda, one of the world’s most famous terrorist groups, its long-time ally. Initially, the Taliban respected the agreement and entered into negotiations with the government. In recent months, however, attacks on central government forces have resumed: according to an estimate of New York Times, October has been the month with the most civilian deaths in Afghanistan, more than 200, in a year.
“Afghan officials have long viewed the US military presence as a key incentive to pressure the Taliban to comply with the agreements,” adds the New York Times: “Today, many, including the Taliban, according to Afghan government officials, believe that the hasty US withdrawal is the signal that the United States will leave regardless of the violence perpetrated by extremists.”
– Read also: How the Taliban won in Afghanistan
A partial withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan has long been rumored within the Trump administration. At the beginning of November, the then Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, sent a document to the White House in which, according to the Washington Post He warned that even a partial withdrawal could “damage the troops that will remain in Afghanistan,” “endanger alliances” and “delegitimize the ongoing negotiations” between the Taliban and the Afghan central government. Esper was fired by Trump on November 9 after months of bad relationships.
Democrats and Republicans have reacted to Trump’s decision in no particular order: Mitch McConnell, the head of the Republicans in the Senate, who has been supporting Trump’s falsehoods about the alleged electoral fraud for days, called the partial withdrawal from Afghanistan as “a mistake”. , while several other Republicans have supported Trump’s decision. Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House committee that oversees the military, also supported the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, although it is unclear what the next president, Joe Biden, intends.
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