Obama slows military withdrawal from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday the U.S. will slow its planned military withdrawal from Afghanistan this year to assist the fledgling pro-American government against a tenacious insurgency.

The president and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced jointly at the White House that the current 9,800 troops will remain through the end of 2015 to advise and train national army and police forces against the Taliban, despite an early plan to reduce U.S. forces to 5,500. Obama said a plan to withdraw to an embassy presence by the time he leaves office has not changed.

The Afghanistan war officially ended in January, and Obama had promised to wrap up military operations there. But the administration reassessed the withdrawal after requests from Ghani’s government – and the dramatic and bloody rise of the Islamic State in Iraq following a military withdrawal in 2010.

“As long as our men and women are in Afghanistan there are risks involved. It is a dangerous place,” Obama said. “It means some folks are going to be rotating in for a few months more than what they would have been.”

Military personnel are advising and training about 330,000 members of the Afghan security forces, which are growing stronger “month by month,” he said.

The additional forces this year will allow more time to prepare those soldiers and police as well as shore up logistical support, ensuring the Afghans not only have needed equipment but are using it properly, Obama said.

On Monday, the administration announced it will also request new funding from Congress to pump up Afghan end strength to 352,000, yet the president has not provided a dollar figure for the initiative.

The administration’s goal is to create a security force that can defeat the Taliban and maintain the new unity government. But Taliban attacks continue – now mostly on Afghan forces – and attempts at a negotiated peace settlement have not panned out.

Over the past year, the administration has also faced the bloody rise of the Islamic State in Iraq, which occured after the full withdrawal of U.S. military forces in 2011. Republicans in Congress hammered Obama for what they deemed a premature withdrawal that could lead to a similar collapse.

Obama said the revised withdrawal timeline and renewed support is part of new chapter in Afghanistan relations after the country’s contentious but successful democratic election last year. After results were disputed, Ghani agreed to a power-sharing arrangement with his opponent Abdullah Abdullah, who accompanied the new Afghan president to Washington this week for the announcement.

The administration sees Ghani as a more reliable partner than his predecessor Hamid Karzai, who had an often antagonistic relationship with Washington and the military.

During Ghani’s visit this week, he made a series of comments – including thanking American troops and taxpayers -- seemingly meant to cement his reputation as a leader capable of working closely with the U.S.

“You stood shoulder to shoulder with us and I want to say, ‘Thank you,’” Ghani said during the White House announcement with Obama.

He gave a nod to U.S. concerns about endemic government corruption and women’s rights, saying Afghanistan looks forward to a day when it will have a female president.

“This partnership with the United States has a foundation,” Ghani said.

By Travis J. Tritten of Stars and Stripes |  @Travis_Tritten