TRUMP PLANS TO REDUCE TROOP LEVELS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ BY MID-JANUARY

Tue 17 November 2020:

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to cut the US military presence in Afghanistan by almost half, before Joe Biden takes over the presidency in January.

While Trump is expected to give the order as soon as this week, the Pentagon has already issued a notice known as “warning order,” according to a CNN report.

The order plans to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each by Jan. 15 at the latest. At the moment, the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan is around 4,500, while there are some 3,000 in Iraq.

If implemented, Trump’s decision would come a week after he fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper who was resisting the early withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan until some conditions in the country were reached.

Trump has long criticized the presence of American troops overseas as his aim of divorcing the US from “endless wars” became his foreign policy.

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, however, sent mixed messages on Saturday by saying “This war isn’t over. We are on the verge of defeating al Qaida and its associates.”

Noting that the US involvement in the region has been long and enormous, he said: “This is the critical phase in which we transition our efforts from a leadership to supporting role.”

“All wars must end. Ending wars requires compromise and partnership. We met the challenge; we gave it our all. Now, it’s time to come home,” Miller added.

Trump had announced in October he would pull out all US troops from Afghanistan by Christmas.

Some analysts suggested however, that it is unclear whether the orders will be implemented as fast as Trump would like in order to secure his legacy on ending America’s “endless wars”, and that it would have only symbolic significance weeks, or even days before Biden enters the White House on 20 January.

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