APNewsBreak: US to keep 9800 troops in Afghanistan

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will seek to keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the war formally ends later this year and then will withdraw most of those forces by 2016, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

Obama's decision is largely in line with what military commanders have been seeking and will allow the president to fully end the American-led military effort by the time he leaves office.

The two-year plan is contingent on the Afghan government signing a bilateral security agreement with the U.S. While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declined to sign the agreement, U.S. officials are confident that either of the candidates seeking to replace him would give his approval.

The plan calls for the U.S. military to draw down from its current force of 32,000 to 9,800 by the start of next year. Those troops would be dispatched throughout Afghanistan and focus on counterterrorism missions and training Afghan security forces. They would not be engaged in combat missions.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-27-11-45-00

[Plucketeer]

1. Without campaign finance reform

We'll be there 70 years from now.

[freebrew]

20. Well, we've been there since Vietnam...

someone has to take care of those poppies!

(cia)

[former9thward]

2. And more attacks will come.

And more will die. At the end of this new 'last year' it will be extended again. Need more time to train and 'stabilize the situation'.

[factsarenotfair]

3. What's the difference between a combat mission and a counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan? n/t

[dipsydoodle]

6. In this case

I would assume ability to defend especially given that Karzai had already made perfectly clear that any involvement with the Taliban would become completely off limits to any remaining US forces.

[factsarenotfair]

7. Thanks. :)

[Rhymes With Orange]

4. Smart move by President Obama. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. And guess where he wants to send more troops?

President Obama close to authorizing mission led by the US military to train moderate Syrian rebels.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025005755

removing troops from one country just to put more troops into another one..

[bigdarryl]

8. If you have 10,000 troops in a war zone in another country the war isn't OVER

This is some BULLSHIT!!! and we wonder why people say there's not a damn difference between democrats and republicans.

[RedSock]

17. HUGE amount of B.S.

This war continues. As do the other ones, the U.S. is engaged in ...

Obama's "the war is over" statement is as laughable as Bush's "mission accomplished"

[ConservativeDemocrat]

18. Really? Because we also still have 50,000 troops in Japan...

...and I'm pretty sure WW2 is over.

But hey, it's your logic. I guess it doesn't have to make much sense.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[freebrew]

21. I'm pretty sure the Japanese aren't shooting at anyone.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

24. Just releasing poison gas in the subway...

But yes, I agree with you that "war" has more to do with whether there is active conflict going on or not, not the number of US troops in the country. That was kind of my point.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[lark]

9. Our best hope is that the security agreement doesn't get approved.

We'd have a lot more people in Iraq except (thankfully) their government refused to sign-off. Praying the same happens in Afghanistan. More Americans = more targets. End the madness.

[gussmith]

10. Status of Force agreement?

What became of that agreement that Karzai would not sign - an agreement that would "allow" us to remain in Afghanistan? We apparently are unwanted there.

[karynnj]

14. Read the article - the two people vying to replace Kharzi both support it

Kharzi is leaving office.

[gussmith]

15. Has It Been Signed

or just not necessary to the plan?

[karynnj]

16. No - and yes, it is a condition of the US staying

All of which the article says. Both of the men who can become the new President have said they are in favor of it.

Obviously, if once elected, the future President refuses to sign it -- we will be out of there.

[gussmith]

22. Sure We'll Be Out of There!

Why the rush to commit when those to be helped have not signed ...?

[karynnj]

23. Why are you arguing with me - you asked questions that had factual answers

which you could have read in the article. I repeated them.

The point is that BOTH have committed to signing. What is holding them back, is that neither are yet President. I assume the reason to make the commitment now is to to add what assurances - and they want assurances - we can.

If you followed this, it was supposed to be signed last year. Then there was some wiggle room -- the BIGGEST reason that this is news is that people have said - without giving few dates that there is a point beyond which we can not plan a secure exit by the end of the year. Yet we said we would not stay without the agreement. It sounds to me like this is saying - that though they have no signature on paper - they are trusting that it will be done and planning to stay on the assumption that it happens.

I assume that this is because they are very certain or they have at least been given agreements that it will be - at minimum - stretched out enough to allow a planned exit.

[jakeXT]

19. Like with every puppet , sometimes strings rupture

In Karzai’s mind, al-Qaeda is “more a myth than a reality” and the majority of the United States’ prisoners here were innocent. He’s certain that the war was “for the U.S. security and for the Western interest.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interview-karzai-says-12-year-afghanistan-war-has-left-him-angry-at-us-government/2014/03/02/b831671c-a21a-11e3-b865-38b254d92063_story.html

[SamKnause]

11. I hope Afghanistan forces the U.S.

to withdraw ALL troops !!!

[OnyxCollie]

12. Outsourcing!

How many contractors will continue to be there?

[KoKo]

26. How many are there now...along with CIA Ops...Probably quite a few...

But, assume we wont get those numbers anytime soon...They even have their own CIA Bases...

from the article:

"As the military draws down in Afghanistan, the CIA also will gradually close its bases along the Pakistan border and pull most of its officers back to the capital, U.S. officials say. While the CIA uses its own private security force to guard its bases, it relies on the military for transport, logistics and emergency medical evacuation, and the civilian spy agency is not willing to risk a significant deployment of officers in rural Afghanistan without U.S. troops nearby, the officials say."

[Ash_F]

13. "confident that either of the candidates seeking to replace him would give his approval"

The CIA saw to that, I'm sure.

[KoKo]

27. And, Juan Cole wrote an article about the money that they depend on from us being

there. They don't want that money "abruptly removed." Even though we were supposed to be out by end of 2014.

[hughee99]

25. What happened to being out by Afghanistan by 2014, come hell or high water...

Apparently, neither came, so we're staying.