Pentagon to cut troop levels to 2,500 in Iraq, Afghanistan

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller mentioned Tuesday the US will cut back troop ranges in Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January, asserting that the choice fulfills President Donald Trump’s pledge to deliver forces house from America’s lengthy wars at the same time as Republicans and US allies warn of the risks of withdrawing earlier than circumstances are proper.

The plan will speed up troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan in Trump’s last days in workplace, regardless of arguments from senior navy officers in favor of a slower, extra methodical pull-out to protect hard-fought good points. Trump has refused to concede his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, who takes workplace Jan. 20, simply 5 days after the troop withdrawals are to complete.

Miller, who refused to take questions from reporters after studying a ready assertion earlier than TV cameras on the Pentagon, mentioned the US will cut back troop ranges in Afghanistan from greater than 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from about 3,000 to 2,500.

Speaking every week after taking up for former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump, Miller notably didn’t say that the drawdown plan had been really useful or endorsed by Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or by different senior navy officers. He mentioned solely that navy commanders had agreed to execute it.

Miller mentioned the US stays prepared to reply if circumstances in Afghanistan or Iraq deteriorate.

“If the forces of terror, instability, division and hate begin a deliberate campaign to disrupt our efforts, we stand ready to apply the capabilities required to thwart them,” he mentioned in a roughly eight-minute assertion — his first prolonged public remarks since taking workplace.

The withdrawal plan falls wanting Trump’s oft-repeated vow to finish America’s lengthy wars. It additionally runs counter to his steering that troop withdrawals be primarily based on the circumstances on the bottom, not a date on the calendar.

In Afghanistan, specifically, navy and defence leaders have persistently mentioned the Taliban has not but met necessities to cut back violent assaults towards Afghan authorities forces. Some have frightened that too-fast troop reductions would strengthen the negotiating hand of the Taliban and weaken the place of an already-weak Afghan authorities.

The resolution has already acquired a cool reception from some Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, and a considerably uncharacteristically blunt critique from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

“I believe these additional reductions of American troops from terrorist areas are a mistake,” mentioned Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, who’s the rating Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. He mentioned the Taliban, whose maintain on energy in Kabul was destroyed when US troops invaded the nation in October 2001, have “done nothing — met no condition — that would justify this cut.”

Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, endorsed the Trump resolution.

“Our primary goal has been, and continues to be, the prevention of transnational terrorists from launching an attack against the United States from Afghanistan,” Smith mentioned. “In order to contain the terrorist threat as we draw down our troop levels, it is critical that we coordinate the drawdown closely with our allies, as well as our partners in the Afghan government, to protect our interests and those of our allies in Afghanistan.”

Stoltenberg earlier Tuesday warned that NATO may pay a heavy value for leaving Afghanistan too early.

NATO has fewer than 12,000 troops from dozens of countries serving to to coach and advise the Afghan nationwide safety forces. The 30-nation alliance depends closely on the United States armed forces for transport, logistics and different help.

“We now face a difficult decision. We have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and no NATO ally wants to stay any longer than necessary. But at the same time, the price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high,” Stoltenberg mentioned in an announcement.

Trump’s nationwide safety adviser Robert O’Brien mentioned the president is maintaining his promise to the American folks to get US troops out of struggle zones. “By May, it is President Trump’s hope that they will all come home safely and in their entirety,” O’Brien informed reporters on the White House shortly after Miller made the announcement on the Pentagon.

“I want to reiterate that this policy is not new,” O’Brien mentioned. “This has been the president’s policy since he took office.”

Trump has mentioned, nonetheless, that his choices about US troop ranges in Afghanistan could be primarily based on circumstances on the bottom, not on the calendar. He has accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of setting a timetable for troop withdrawals in Iraq and Afghanistan that labored towards the achievement of navy targets. Now, nonetheless, Trump is brazenly declaring a timetable for troop reductions in each international locations, at the same time as violence stays excessive in Afghanistan.

The accelerated withdrawal goes towards the longstanding recommendation of Trump’s navy management, together with Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, prime US commander for the Middle East. But officers advised that commanders will be capable to stay with the partial pullout, which permits them to maintain counterterrorism troops in Afghanistan and provides them time to take away vital gear.

McKenzie and others have repeatedly argued {that a} hasty withdrawal may undercut negotiations to finalize ongoing peace negotiations between the Taliban and representatives of Afghan society, together with the Afghan authorities. And in addition they warn that US forces ought to stay within the nation to maintain Islamic State militants in verify.

Biden has sounded much less absolute about troop withdrawal. He has mentioned some troops may keep in Afghanistan to give attention to the counterterrorism mission. In response to a questionnaire earlier than the election, he mentioned: “Americans are rightly weary of our longest war; I am, too. But we must end the war responsibly, in a manner that ensures we both guard against threats to our homeland and never have to go back.”