Obama Is Rethinking Pullout in Afghanistan, Officials Say
- 9 years ago
With pressure building on the White House to slow or completely halt the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan , senior officials said that President Obama appears increasingly willing to keep a force there large enough to carry on the hunt for Al Qaeda and Islamic State militants.
Those developments have led the White House to become increasingly convinced of the need to keep some kind of counterterrorism force in Afghanistan.
But at the very least, those pushing for an expanded mission after 2017 would like to see the United States and its NATO allies maintain at least two or three bases from which drones could be flown and Special Operations Forces could readily strike at militants.
The officials said that the Pentagon had also presented other options that range from just an embassy force of about 1,000, which mainly protects American diplomats in Kabul, to maintaining the current force of roughly 9,800, which would also allow American forces to continue training and advising the Afghans.
Those developments have led the White House to become increasingly convinced of the need to keep some kind of counterterrorism force in Afghanistan.
But at the very least, those pushing for an expanded mission after 2017 would like to see the United States and its NATO allies maintain at least two or three bases from which drones could be flown and Special Operations Forces could readily strike at militants.
The officials said that the Pentagon had also presented other options that range from just an embassy force of about 1,000, which mainly protects American diplomats in Kabul, to maintaining the current force of roughly 9,800, which would also allow American forces to continue training and advising the Afghans.