US Troops Will Stay In Afghanistan Until the End Of Obama’s Presidency

America’s longest war just got longer.

“The narrative that we’re leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating”, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday during a speech at the Association of the U.S. Army.

Obama’s meeting with Ghani set off a monthslong re-evaluation of the US role in Afghanistan.

The combat burden has taken a heavy toll on Afghan forces.

At the time, however, he said that he still planned to leave only a few hundred in the country after 2016.

It’s a test for which the Afghans have in recent months appeared ill-equipped.

“We believe that when Afghans are convinced regarding the end of occupation and withdrawal of foreign troops than all problems could be easily solved through intra-Afghan understanding and dialogue”, it added.

Under previous plans, the United States would have drawn down its troop numbers by the end of 2016 from about 10,000 now, to about 1,000.

But Obama stressed the troops would not have a combat role, and would instead maintain their focus on training and counterterrorism. “The more effectively these reforms happen, the better off the security situation’s going to be”. He said the administration had always understood the potential for adjustments in troop levels even as the military sought to withdraw troops from battle.

The president’s decision to keep the US military in Afghanistan beyond his tenure thrusts the conflict into the 2016 presidential race.

So this might not work?

MSF accused the USA of potentially damaging evidence related to the attack by forcing a military vehicle through the gates of the hospital on Thursday. The decision to slow the withdrawal of troops was made as Obama was under pressure at home and overseas over the Afghan conflict, which led to “an extensive and months-long review” of strategy, White House officials said. Similarly, in Afghanistan, despite years of fighting and a temporary increase in USA troops there, the Taliban has made a comeback, a point starkly underscored by the brief takeover of the city of Kunduz, while the Islamic State has begun making inroads as well. The presence of 5,500 troops – down from more than 100,000 at its peak – may make only a modest difference militarily.

But the troops aren’t all there for training and advising, right?

US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation invaded Afghanistan in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 attacks, ousting the Taliban government from Kabul.

ISIS, the terrorist group that has ravaged swaths of Syria and Iraq, has also now sprung up in Afghanistan.

What else is weighing on Obama’s decision?

“This announcement is an important signal to the worldwide community, it is an important signal to the alliance partners of the United States but above all an important signal to the Afghan people”.

Obama s decision – announced in a televised address from the Roosevelt Room of the White House – means he bequeaths to his successor a 14-year war that he inherited from George W. Bush.

It is another setback for the president in his quest to extricate the US from more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Earnest had an answer to that. “Due to military efforts by the Pakistanis, there has been displacement of al-Qaida into Afghanistan”, she said.

“No military in history has ever held Afghanistan”.

Obama is certainly hoping his decision will pave the way for an end to the conflict.

Officials said North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies had expressed support for extending the troop presence in Afghanistan, but they did not outline any specific commitments from other nations. But he said the mission in Afghanistan had the benefit of a clear objective, a supportive government and legal agreements that protect USA forces – three factors not present in Iraq.