General says troop cuts constrain Afghan training mission

The senior US military commander in Afghanistan told Congress on Thursday that training for Afghan forces would be severely constrained if the number of American troops there was cut to 5,500, as President Barack Obama has proposed.

“Fifty-five hundred militarily will not allow you to do what you need to do”, said committee member Lindsey Graham, a senator for SC.

Nicholson said in testimony to the committee last week that he aimed to review a plan that would cut American troop levels by almost half by the start of next year, as he acknowledged deteriorating security in the country.

Gen. Campbell is scheduled to testify on February 4, 2016 at 10:00am ET at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “Transnational terrorism does that”, Campbell said.

But Campbell warned the committee that “Afghanistan has not achieved an enduring level of security and stability that justifies a reduction of our support in 2016”.

Responsibility for combat operations was transferred to the Afghan National Security Forces in 2014.

Yet patience among other lawmakers is fraying with the finish line so far away. But Obama backtracked, saying the situation remained too fragile for such a rapid withdrawal.

McCain said it’s unrealistic to expect a reduced force to handle the dual mission of training the Afghans and counterterrorism.

“So we won’t be able to do (the training mission) at those numbers?”

“We’re missing an enormous opportunity to continue to stabilize the region but also to… gain intelligence against people who are planning attacks”, Tillis said. “I believe that Afghanistan can be an enduring success story for Americans, but only if we avoid the mistakes we have made elsewhere”.

In a major departure from his promise to bring all US troops home before leaving office, Obama announced last October he would keep 5,500 USA troops in Afghanistan into 2017 and maintain the current 9,800 forces through “most of 2016”. Responding to a question on safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Campbell said the U.S. needs to continue talking to Islamabad in this regard.

“We have to do everything we can to build up capability for countries, like Afghanistan, to help us in that fight”, he said.