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| Afghanistan |
| Carter: US considering slowing exit from Afghanistan |
| 2015-02-22 |
| Kabul -- The United States is considering slowing its military exit from Afghanistan by keeping a larger-than-planned troop presence this year and next because the new Afghan government is proving to be a more reliable partner, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday. Carter, on his first overseas trip since starting the Pentagon job on Tuesday, also said the Obama administration is “rethinking” the counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, although he did not elaborate. No decisions have been made, but President Barack Obama will discuss a range of options for slowing the US military withdrawal when Afghan president Ashraf Ghani visits the White House next month, Carter said at a news conference with Ghani. The presidents also plan to talk about the future of the counterterrorism fight in Afghanistan, he said. Carter did not say Obama was considering keeping US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016, only that the president was rethinking the pace of troop withdrawals for 2015 and 2016. There are about 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan, down from a peak of 100,000 as recently as 2010-11. While the White House recently acknowledged it was reconsidering the exit plan, Carter’s remarks were the most direct explanation by a Pentagon official amid criticism from opposition Republicans that the Democratic commander in chief is beating a hasty and risky retreat. The “common denominator” in the new thinking about the US military mission is a belief in Washington that the formation of a unity government in Kabul last year has opened new possibilities for progress on both the political and security fronts, Carter said. The unity government of Ashraf and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah offers new promise for a more effective partnership in stabilising the country, Carter said. US officials had grown impatient with former President Hamid Karzai, who sometimes publicly criticised the US military and took a dimmer view of partnering with the Americans. “That’s a major change,” Carter said, something “that just a few months ago we couldn’t have planned on.” Carter did not describe in detail what changes Obama is considering in the US military presence. But he said could include slowing the withdrawal pace and changing the timing and sequencing of US base closures. He said Obama also was “rethinking the details” of the US counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, where there are remnants of Al Qaeda as well as signs that the Daesh militant group is seeking to make inroads here in addition to Iraq and Syria. In his remarks to reporters, Ghani thanked Obama for being flexible and showing a willingness to consider “the realities on the ground.” Using similar phrasing, Carter said that when he returns to Washington he will work up recommendations to Obama, in advance of the March talks, that “reflect reality on the ground.” |
| Posted by:Steve White |