SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A U.S. soldier in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan on Feb. 8, 2015. (Photo: U.S. Army/Capt. Lindsay Roman)
'Operation Endless War': US Could Leave 10,000 Troops in Afghanistan After 2016
Wall Street Journal reports on option put forth by top U.S. commander in Afghanistan
Sep 25, 2015
The U.S. is reportedly considering a plan to leave as many as 10,000 troops in Afghanistan "beyond the end of 2016," the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The paper reports that the option was one of five that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, offered the Pentagon and NATO officials in Brussels. From the WSJ:
The recommendations reflect growing concerns among military officers that current force reduction plans could raise the risk of mission failure in Afghanistan to what one senior military official said would be an "unacceptable level."
The reporting comes just months after President Obama announced that, "based on [Afghan] President Ghani's request for flexibility," there would be no troop draw-down in 2015. As Common Dreams reported at the time:
Under the guise of a transfer of power, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's and U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday new "flexibility" in the U.S. military's drawdown plan in Afghanistan, scrapping previous pledges made to reduce troop levels by the end of the year.
During the joint address, Obama said that none of the 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn in 2015--despite his initial pledge to reduce troop levels to 5,500 during that time.
"It means some folks are going to be rotating back into Afghanistan for a few extra months," Obama said during the press briefing.
While U.S. troops would no longer be serving a "combat" role, Obama said that they will continue to train, advise and assist Afghan Security Forces, as well as maintain targeted counterterrorism operations, or drone strikes, in that country.
During the remarks, the U.S. president maintained that the trajectory for complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is the end of 2016. However, the Bilateral Security Agreement, signed by Ghani in September, locked in another ten years of U.S. military presence.
Writing in 2014, when Obama authorized the extension of the war in Afghanistan, noted commentator and writer Jim Hightower charged: "'Operation Enduring Freedom,'" as the government originally dubbed this mess of a military mission, should be renamed 'Operation Endless War.'"
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The U.S. is reportedly considering a plan to leave as many as 10,000 troops in Afghanistan "beyond the end of 2016," the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The paper reports that the option was one of five that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, offered the Pentagon and NATO officials in Brussels. From the WSJ:
The recommendations reflect growing concerns among military officers that current force reduction plans could raise the risk of mission failure in Afghanistan to what one senior military official said would be an "unacceptable level."
The reporting comes just months after President Obama announced that, "based on [Afghan] President Ghani's request for flexibility," there would be no troop draw-down in 2015. As Common Dreams reported at the time:
Under the guise of a transfer of power, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's and U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday new "flexibility" in the U.S. military's drawdown plan in Afghanistan, scrapping previous pledges made to reduce troop levels by the end of the year.
During the joint address, Obama said that none of the 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn in 2015--despite his initial pledge to reduce troop levels to 5,500 during that time.
"It means some folks are going to be rotating back into Afghanistan for a few extra months," Obama said during the press briefing.
While U.S. troops would no longer be serving a "combat" role, Obama said that they will continue to train, advise and assist Afghan Security Forces, as well as maintain targeted counterterrorism operations, or drone strikes, in that country.
During the remarks, the U.S. president maintained that the trajectory for complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is the end of 2016. However, the Bilateral Security Agreement, signed by Ghani in September, locked in another ten years of U.S. military presence.
Writing in 2014, when Obama authorized the extension of the war in Afghanistan, noted commentator and writer Jim Hightower charged: "'Operation Enduring Freedom,'" as the government originally dubbed this mess of a military mission, should be renamed 'Operation Endless War.'"
The U.S. is reportedly considering a plan to leave as many as 10,000 troops in Afghanistan "beyond the end of 2016," the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The paper reports that the option was one of five that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, offered the Pentagon and NATO officials in Brussels. From the WSJ:
The recommendations reflect growing concerns among military officers that current force reduction plans could raise the risk of mission failure in Afghanistan to what one senior military official said would be an "unacceptable level."
The reporting comes just months after President Obama announced that, "based on [Afghan] President Ghani's request for flexibility," there would be no troop draw-down in 2015. As Common Dreams reported at the time:
Under the guise of a transfer of power, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's and U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday new "flexibility" in the U.S. military's drawdown plan in Afghanistan, scrapping previous pledges made to reduce troop levels by the end of the year.
During the joint address, Obama said that none of the 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn in 2015--despite his initial pledge to reduce troop levels to 5,500 during that time.
"It means some folks are going to be rotating back into Afghanistan for a few extra months," Obama said during the press briefing.
While U.S. troops would no longer be serving a "combat" role, Obama said that they will continue to train, advise and assist Afghan Security Forces, as well as maintain targeted counterterrorism operations, or drone strikes, in that country.
During the remarks, the U.S. president maintained that the trajectory for complete troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is the end of 2016. However, the Bilateral Security Agreement, signed by Ghani in September, locked in another ten years of U.S. military presence.
Writing in 2014, when Obama authorized the extension of the war in Afghanistan, noted commentator and writer Jim Hightower charged: "'Operation Enduring Freedom,'" as the government originally dubbed this mess of a military mission, should be renamed 'Operation Endless War.'"
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.