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I WANT SOLDIERS AT HOME: President Donald Trump pays tribute to the stretcher of US Sergeant Javier Jaguar Gutiérrez, who was assassinated in Afghanistan earlier this year. Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / X90178
President Donald Trump wants a massive withdrawal from Afghanistan before he has to leave the White House in January. But now NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is warning not to act too quickly.
– Now we are faced with a difficult decision. The price of leaving too early and uncoordinated can be very high, Stoltenberg said in a written statement Tuesday.
The statement can be read as a direct appeal to the United States and a warning to Trump not to go too fast.
CNN and other US media reported Tuesday morning that Trump has decided on a swift and massive withdrawal from Afghanistan, as he has repeatedly promised but failed to deliver:
Trump will now have plans to halve the number of troops in the country to about 2,500, before newly-elected President Joe Biden takes office on January 20.
– I am in close contact with the United States and the other allies regarding our forces in Afghanistan. NATO entered Afghanistan after an attack on the United States, to ensure that the country is never again a safe haven for international terrorists, Stoltenberg writes.
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It was time
“It is time to go home,” new Defense Secretary Christopher Miller wrote in a statement to the US military last week. It was interpreted as a warning of a significant reduction in force in both Afghanistan and Syria.
But US-led peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders in Doha have been slower than expected after the parties began negotiations in February. NATO and the United States have already significantly reduced their forces in the country during the fall.
The NATO force in Afghanistan, including the United States, is now estimated at just under 12,000 troops.
Do you have this with you? During the election rally, Trump made the statement:
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Fear of international terror
“We have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and no NATO ally wants to be there longer than necessary,” the NATO secretary general said now.
In KABUL: Jens Stoltenberg visited Afghanistan in February this year, along with now-US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Photo: Rahmat Gul / AP
But he cautions against starting too early. The Taliban have not reduced the use of force so a withdrawal is now justifiable, according to the NATO chief:
– Afghanistan runs the risk of once again becoming a platform for international terrorists planning and carrying out attacks in our countries of origin. And ISIL can rebuild the caliphate in Afghanistan that they lost in Syria and Iraq, Stoltenberg warns.
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Trump fired his former defense secretary Mark Esper last week and installed Christopher Miller. But a few days before his ouster, Esper is said to have sent a secret note to the president warning him not to bring the soldiers home, according to the Washington Post.
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But even with a smaller US force present, Stoltenberg writes that NATO “will continue its mission of training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces.”
Norwegian special forces with the support of other parts of the Armed Forces have supported the anti-terrorism police in Kabul for several years. NATO has also committed to financially support the security forces until 2024. That promise backs NATO, according to Stoltenberg:
– We went to Afghanistan together. And when the time comes, we must leave together, and in a coordinated and orderly manner, says the Head of NATO.
