Official: Pentagon Started Plan for Full Afghan Withdrawal
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The Pentagon has started planning to have zero U.S. troops in Afghanistan by spring, though orders have not yet been issued for a full withdrawal, a Defense Department official says.
"I’d like to make it clear that [Defense Secretary Mark Esper] has not issued orders to reduce military personnel below this 4,000 to 5,000 level in Afghanistan, although we are conducting prudent planning to withdraw to zero service members by May 2021 if conditions warrant, per the U.S.-Taliban agreement,” David Helvey, the official performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security at a hearing, The Hill reported.
The comments come as President Donald Trump has been touting U.S. troop drawdowns in the region in the final stretch of the campaign as evidence he is delivering on his promise to end America’s "endless wars”.
Officials have announced they expect to be at about 4,500 troops in Afghanistan by November.
The comments also come as the Taliban and Afghan government have started talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the 19-year war.
On Tuesday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. administration’s envoy for Afghan talks, said the Taliban have taken "positive steps” toward breaking with al-Qaeda, though he noted the Taliban have more work to do and would not answer a question in an unclassified setting on whether Taliban leaders have instructed their militants to break from the terrorist group.
"We look for more steps before we are satisfied, and I believe that once we reach 4,500, we’d do an evaluation of ties and actions that they have taken and make decisions based on that,” Khalilzad added at the hearing.
The U.S. withdrawal is contingent on the counterterrorism commitment, not the outcome of intra-Afghan talks or the Taliban reducing attacks on Afghan forces.
But Khalilzad stated Tuesday that "by any measure, current levels of violence are too high”, adding that "we know that reductions are possible”.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 shortly after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. While the invasion ended the Taliban’s rule in the country, it has failed to eliminate the militant group.
American forces have since remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump.
"I’d like to make it clear that [Defense Secretary Mark Esper] has not issued orders to reduce military personnel below this 4,000 to 5,000 level in Afghanistan, although we are conducting prudent planning to withdraw to zero service members by May 2021 if conditions warrant, per the U.S.-Taliban agreement,” David Helvey, the official performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security at a hearing, The Hill reported.
The comments come as President Donald Trump has been touting U.S. troop drawdowns in the region in the final stretch of the campaign as evidence he is delivering on his promise to end America’s "endless wars”.
Officials have announced they expect to be at about 4,500 troops in Afghanistan by November.
The comments also come as the Taliban and Afghan government have started talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the 19-year war.
On Tuesday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. administration’s envoy for Afghan talks, said the Taliban have taken "positive steps” toward breaking with al-Qaeda, though he noted the Taliban have more work to do and would not answer a question in an unclassified setting on whether Taliban leaders have instructed their militants to break from the terrorist group.
"We look for more steps before we are satisfied, and I believe that once we reach 4,500, we’d do an evaluation of ties and actions that they have taken and make decisions based on that,” Khalilzad added at the hearing.
The U.S. withdrawal is contingent on the counterterrorism commitment, not the outcome of intra-Afghan talks or the Taliban reducing attacks on Afghan forces.
But Khalilzad stated Tuesday that "by any measure, current levels of violence are too high”, adding that "we know that reductions are possible”.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 shortly after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. While the invasion ended the Taliban’s rule in the country, it has failed to eliminate the militant group.
American forces have since remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Donald Trump.