From Reuters:
“U.S. troops
in Afghanistan now down to 2,500, lowest since 2001: Pentagon”
The number of
U.S troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, the lowest level of
American forces there since 2001, the Pentagon said on Friday. In November,
President Donald Trump’s administration said it would sharply cut the number of
U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January, stopping short
of a threatened full withdrawal from America’s longest war after fierce
opposition from allies at home and abroad. “Moving forward, while the
Department continues with planning capable of further reducing U.S. troop
levels to zero by May of 2021, any such future drawdowns remain
conditions-based,” acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said in a statement on
reaching 2,500 troops.
On Monday,
Reuters reported the U.S. military had not halted an American troop withdrawal
from Afghanistan, despite a new law prohibiting further reductions without the
Pentagon sending Congress an assessment of the risks. A Pentagon spokesman,
Army Major Rob Lodewick, on Friday said Trump had signed a waiver allowing for
the troop reduction, though it appears to have happened when the move was
already complete. “Convention dictates that reducing troop levels, associated
equipment and adjusting associated force protection requirements across a
country-wide combat zone is not something that can be paused overnight without
increasing risk to the force and core mission goals,” Lodewick said.
U.S. forces
invaded the country after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by
the Islamist al Qaeda group based in Afghanistan. At its peak in 2011, the
United States had more than 100,000 troops there. President-elect Joe Biden,
who takes office next Wednesday, has given few clues on what his plans are for
Afghanistan. However, one option could be to leave a small counterterrorism
force in the country, where its former Taliban rulers, al Qaeda and the Islamic
State militant group still have a presence.
^ I wonder if
Biden will increase the troop amounts when he’s in office or if he will keep or
even lower them. ^
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