[ToloNews] U.S. officials have indicated that Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
made the point during his meeting on Saturday with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel of pointing out the risks of a hurried NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
troop withdraw. President Ghani is expected to make a formal request for a more gradual withdraw of foreign troops when he visits Washington in the new year to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama
I bowled a 129. Itâ??s like â?? it was like Special Olympics, or something...
The leaders of the national unity government appear to be in agreement regarding the withdraw of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
has already spoken out about the troop pullout, and said that it would be hasty to move ahead as planned given the current security conditions around the country.
Based on Washington's current plan, 9,800 U.S. soldiers will remain in Afghanistan alongside another 1,000 additional troops until the end of 2015. The figure will then reduce to 5,500 troops the following year.
U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal that it is likely Ghani will ask his U.S. counterparts to delay a number of different aspects of the withdrawal plan while he is in Washington early in the new year.
A number of political commentators have reinforced the logic behind Ghani's possible request. "The Afghan cops aren't equipped with heavy weaponry, we don't have an air force, therefore, I think that it is too early for all foreign troops to evacuate the country," military analyst Mia Gul Waseeq said.
In his interview with the Sunday Times, CEO Abdullah Abdullah suggested the withdraw of all foreign troops in the next year would be hasty and irresponsible given the current security situation in Afghanistan.
"Two years back, we had 150,000 foreign troops, helicopters and fighter jets in Afghanistan, but after two months, only 12,000 foreign troops will remain in Afghanistan," Abdullah said. "We are in dire need of air support, fighter jets and intelligence information."
While on his trip to Laghman province to visit U.S. troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the current wave of insecurity in Afghanistan highlighted the delicate situation in the country. But he maintained that Afghanistan should not be compared to Iraq, where a rapid U.S. withdraw left a vacuum that many experts blame for the current crisis there.
"Iraq and Afghanistan are totally different situations and you all understand that and many of you served in Iraq, so that's where you start," Hagel said. "There are some similarities, sure, our war is different in Iraq as it is here, Iraq has been an ally, you all "know and many of you served there, we invested our blood and treasure to help the Iraqi people.