2017: 5.500

From the Stars and Stripes:

"Obama to keep 5,500 American troops in Afghanistan into 2017"

 

 

 

Thousands of U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan through the conclusion of Barack Obama’s presidency, a major shift in policy he announced Thursday to help ensure the country does not slip back into control of extremist groups. With the Taliban on the offensive and casualties rising among Afghan security forces and civilians, Obama said he would keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan into 2017, leaving future decisions about the American efforts there to his successor. “While America’s combat mission in Afghanistan may be over, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people endures,” Obama said, eluding to America’s ending of Operation Enduring Freedom in December. “As commander-in-chief, I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again.” Obama’s new plan calls for a force of 9,800 troops to remain there through most of next year, continuing their two-fold mission to advise and assist Afghan forces and target the remnants of al-Quaida. The troops will operate from several U.S. bases including in Bagram, north of the capital Kabul; in Kandahar, in the country’s south, and in Jalalabad, in the country’s east. Obama’s original plan would have seen all but a small, embassy-based contingent of troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of next year. But recent gains by the Taliban, including the brief capture of Kunduz in the country’s north, worried military leaders, who in recent months have advised Obama to leave a larger presence in the country.

 

 

^ No surprise here. I have written about Obama's lack of military knowledge and his numerous mistakes (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) At least now he is trying to do something productive - for once. But keeping over 5,000 American soldiers in the country and having the Afghanis in charge is a recipe for disaster since the Afghanis haven't been able to do much about the Taliban or ISIS. ^

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/obama-to-keep-5-500-american-troops-in-afghanistan-into-2017-1.373384