US President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with plans to partially withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan before he leaves office on January 20. The move comes in spite of warnings from US military commanders, Republican leaders in Congress and the head of Nato that a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan could risk further instability in the country and leave a platform for terrorist organisations.
National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, who has embraced Mr Trump's plans and wants to accelerate US departure from Afghanistan, chaired a meeting on the issue on Monday evening, a US official told The National.
The meeting appears to have been called to facilitate the withdrawal plan, which Mr Trump floated as a campaign promise in 2016. The outgoing President is keen to fulfil this pledge in the 64 days he has left in office, but faced with criticism of rapid withdrawal, he may have to settle for a partial drawdown.
Recent staff changes at the Pentagon also point to the President's aim to engineer a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, including the appointment of chief of staff Kash Patel and new acting Secretary of Defence Chris Miller.
The troop reduction would entail removing 2,500 troops from Afghanistan and 500 troops from Iraq by January 15. That would account for more than half the troops present in Afghanistan (4,500) and one sixth of those deployed in Iraq (3000).
Mr Trump would like to see the drawdown happen as soon as Christmas. “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!” Mr Trump tweeted on October 7.
But the process and logistics of a pullout and moving equipment takes time and US officials are talking about January 15 as a more realistic deadline to withdraw 2,500 troops.
Mr Trump’s partial withdrawal follows a classified memo from his former Defence Chief Mark Esper urging against it. Mr Esper sent the memo this month to the White House relaying that it was the “unanimous recommendation of the chain of command that the US not draw down its troop presence in Afghanistan any further until conditions were met,” CNN said.
But Mr Trump, who struck a political deal with the Taliban militant group in February, is keen to end the 19-year-war.
Joe Biden, the US president-elect could be faced with a bigger challenge in Afghanistan if the withdrawal is rushed or the security situation keeps deteriorating in Kabul.
