Following a strong plea from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, President Barack Obama has agreed to maintain the American military presence in Afghanistan at the current level of 9,800 troops through the end of 2015, and defer the drawdown to next year. “The specific trajectory of the 2016 drawdown will be established later this year to enable our final consolidation to a Kabul-based embassy presence by the end of 2016,” Obama said at a joint news conference with Ghani after their Oval Office meeting on Tuesday.
Obama said this flexibility reflects the “reinvigorated partnership with Afghanistan, which is aimed at making Afghanistan secure and preventing it from being used to launch terrorist attacks”. “Reconciliation and a political settlement remain the surest way to achieve the full drawdown of US and foreign troops from Afghanistan in a way that safeguards international interests and peace in Afghanistan, as well as US national security interests,” he said.
Having entrusted the combat operations to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by the end of last year, the American troops currently deployed are engaged in a “train, advise and assist” mission. At the same time, the US would continue to conduct targeted counterterrorism operations, and the two nations have agreed to maintain a dialogue on their counterterrorism partnership in the years ahead.
Addressing the issue of political settlement to end the insurgency problem, Obama said the US will continue its support to an Afghan-led reconciliation process. “Afghanistan and the United States agree on what the Taliban must do, which is break with al-Qaeda, renounce violence, and abide by Afghan laws, including protections for women and minorities,” Obama said.
Ghani, making his pitch for US troops to train and assist ANSF, said this mission is vital to collective interests. “Tragedy brought us together; interests now unite us,” he said, adding the drawdown flexibility that has been provided will be used to ensure that the ANSF are better-led, equipped, trained and focused on their fundamental mission.