WASHINGTON, 05 August. - (ANA) - The United States will draw down U.S. troops in Afghanistan by roughly half before the November presidential election, President Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios.

 

“It’s already planned. We’ll be down now in a very short period of time to 8,000; then we’re going to be down to 4,000,” Trump told Axios’ Jonathan Swan in an July 28 interview. Asked specifically how many troops would remain in Afghanistan by the time of the election on Nov. 3, the president said, “Probably anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000.”

 

Bringing troops down to 4,000 would put U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan at their lowest point since the early days of the 19-year-old war. Over the past six months, the United States has reduced the number of its troops in Afghanistan to about 8,600, in accordance with a deal brokered with the Taliban and signed in February. That deal envisioned the immediate drawdown from 14,000 to 8,600 troops by the summer, and a complete U.S. withdrawal within 14 months. Pentagon leaders have insisted that the second phase will be “conditions-based.” 

 

But Trump has made it clear that he wants the United States out of Afghanistan, rarely speaking publicly about what “conditions” would be necessary to carry out that withdrawal and instead emphasizing the length of the conflict and complaining that U.S. soldiers are acting as “police” in the war torn country. Former and current administration officials have described him as eager to pull out by November in order to fulfill a key campaign promise from the 2016 election.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/05 August 2020 - - -