The US military has submitted to President Barack Obama a plan that moots retention of 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after the scheduled pullout of American forces by the end of this year.
The Pentagon believes this residual force would help the Afghan security forces with continued US military advice and training for another two years and could be brought down to near-zero level by the time Obama’s tenure ends in January 2017. This new plan projects a shorter stay, compared to what had been envisaged earlier for the post-2014 mission. While these discussions are going on within the Obama administration, it is still unclear if Afghan President Hamid Karzai would approve the continued presence of foreign forces in his country beyond 2014.
Karzai has thus far refused to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US, taking the stand that he would leave this matter to his successor, to be chosen in the presidential election set to be held in early April. The White House, which has been ill-at-ease with Karzai’s stance, has said Obama has not made any decisions on the residual force without the conclusion of the BSA. The US had set December 31, 2013 as the deadline for Karzai to sign the security pact.
“If we cannot conclude a Bilateral Security Agreement promptly, then we will initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no US or NATO troop presence in Afghanistan,” National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden has said, adding: “That is not a future we are seeking, and we do not believe that it is in Afghanistan’s interests. The further this slips into 2014, however, the more likely such an outcome is.”
Gen Joseph Dunford, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has been cited in the US media as making the case at NSC meetings last week for keeping 10,000 US troops in the war-torn country. “The proposal is 10,000 or basically nothing, a pullout,” one official has been quoted as saying. A smaller number would serve little purpose, given the level of militant attacks using improvised explosive devices. Gen. Dunford and other military leaders have also advanced the argument that a 10,000-strong residual force would also provide a stabilizing presence after the Afghan elections.