Report: 4,000 U.S. Troops to Leave Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- The Trump administration intends to announce the drawdown of about 4,000 troops from Afghanistan as early next week, according to three current and former U.S. officials. The withdrawal will leave between 8,000 and 9,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the officials said.
The announcement would come just days after Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad rejoined diplomatic talks with the Taliban, which had broken down in September. On Thursday, Ambassador Khalilzad said the U.S. was "taking a brief pause” in talks after a Wednesday attack near Bagram Airfield killed two people and wounded 70 more.
The U.S. has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The officials would not say when the drawdown would begin, but did characterize it as a phased withdrawal that would occur over a few months. Two U.S. officials said the drawdown would be a combination of troops re-deploying early and others not being replaced when they rotate out.
In a statement, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said, "U.S. Forces-Afghanistan has not received orders to reduce troop levels in Afghanistan.”
President Donald Trump has pushed for a withdrawal from Afghanistan for some time, including during his recent visit to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving, his first as commander in chief.
Pentagon chief Mark Esper told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum last weekend that the reduction of U.S. troops will happen even if the Taliban do not negotiate an agreement, and that the commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, has said he can sustain a reduction in forces.
The announcement of withdrawal is "part of trying to reset the talks with the Taliban,” the former defense official said. Khalilzad can then propose to the Taliban that the two sides restart negotiations where they left off, with the U.S. withdrawing troops and the Taliban promising a ceasefire.
"This takes us to the minimum that you have
to keep in the country to remain credible negotiating with the Taliban,” the former official said.
In October, Esper said the U.S. could decrease to 8,600 troops.
The commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, participated in meetings Thursday to discuss the footprint for U.S. troops in the Middle East, according to three U.S. officials. The discussion also included talk of increasing the U.S. military footprint in other parts of the Middle East to counter Iran.
A senior military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Thursday American troops will soon flee the West Asia region.
"I give you assurance that the U.S. will soon escape the West Asia region,” Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said.
Trump has promised since campaigning for the White House in 2016 to end wars like the one in Afghanistan and reduce the number of U.S. troops deployed overseas. His advisers have over the past three years convinced him not to pull the plug on the Afghanistan mission, but the president showed a willingness to take such a step in October when he abruptly pulled U.S. troops out of Syria.
Trump had made clear to his advisers earlier this year that he wanted to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the November 2020 election. "It’s all about talking points in 2020,” the former official said.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime. The militants now control nearly half of Afghanistan and have been relentless in their near-daily attacks targeting Afghan security forces, attacks that inflict heavy casualties.
The group is also setting its conditions in talks with the Americans, including the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
American forces have remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump.
According to a damning report by the Washington Post this month, senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign — and hid "unmistakable evidence” that it was unwinnable.
Since 2001, more than 775,000 American service members have deployed to Afghanistan. Of those, 2,300 were killed and 20,589 were wounded in action, the Pentagon has said.
"What did we get for this $1 trillion effort? Was it worth $1 trillion?” Jeffrey Eggers, a retired Navy SEAL and White House staffer for Bush and Obama, told interviewers.
The announcement would come just days after Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad rejoined diplomatic talks with the Taliban, which had broken down in September. On Thursday, Ambassador Khalilzad said the U.S. was "taking a brief pause” in talks after a Wednesday attack near Bagram Airfield killed two people and wounded 70 more.
The U.S. has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The officials would not say when the drawdown would begin, but did characterize it as a phased withdrawal that would occur over a few months. Two U.S. officials said the drawdown would be a combination of troops re-deploying early and others not being replaced when they rotate out.
In a statement, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said, "U.S. Forces-Afghanistan has not received orders to reduce troop levels in Afghanistan.”
President Donald Trump has pushed for a withdrawal from Afghanistan for some time, including during his recent visit to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving, his first as commander in chief.
Pentagon chief Mark Esper told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum last weekend that the reduction of U.S. troops will happen even if the Taliban do not negotiate an agreement, and that the commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, has said he can sustain a reduction in forces.
The announcement of withdrawal is "part of trying to reset the talks with the Taliban,” the former defense official said. Khalilzad can then propose to the Taliban that the two sides restart negotiations where they left off, with the U.S. withdrawing troops and the Taliban promising a ceasefire.
"This takes us to the minimum that you have
to keep in the country to remain credible negotiating with the Taliban,” the former official said.
In October, Esper said the U.S. could decrease to 8,600 troops.
The commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, participated in meetings Thursday to discuss the footprint for U.S. troops in the Middle East, according to three U.S. officials. The discussion also included talk of increasing the U.S. military footprint in other parts of the Middle East to counter Iran.
A senior military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Thursday American troops will soon flee the West Asia region.
"I give you assurance that the U.S. will soon escape the West Asia region,” Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said.
Trump has promised since campaigning for the White House in 2016 to end wars like the one in Afghanistan and reduce the number of U.S. troops deployed overseas. His advisers have over the past three years convinced him not to pull the plug on the Afghanistan mission, but the president showed a willingness to take such a step in October when he abruptly pulled U.S. troops out of Syria.
Trump had made clear to his advisers earlier this year that he wanted to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the November 2020 election. "It’s all about talking points in 2020,” the former official said.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime. The militants now control nearly half of Afghanistan and have been relentless in their near-daily attacks targeting Afghan security forces, attacks that inflict heavy casualties.
The group is also setting its conditions in talks with the Americans, including the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
American forces have remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump.
According to a damning report by the Washington Post this month, senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign — and hid "unmistakable evidence” that it was unwinnable.
Since 2001, more than 775,000 American service members have deployed to Afghanistan. Of those, 2,300 were killed and 20,589 were wounded in action, the Pentagon has said.
"What did we get for this $1 trillion effort? Was it worth $1 trillion?” Jeffrey Eggers, a retired Navy SEAL and White House staffer for Bush and Obama, told interviewers.