Trump Wants Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to Be Home by May: O'Brien

Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to accelerate a drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 in each nation, as the president works to deliver on his longtime pledge to exit from “endless wars” before he leaves office in January.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced the decision Tuesday at the Pentagon. The order would reduce troops from about 4,500 in Afghanistan and from about 3,000 in Iraq less than one week before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

While the move helps Trump fulfill a campaign vow, reports on the proposal drew bipartisan criticism from lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell even before it was formally released. It also prompted a warning from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said Tuesday that the “price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high.”

“Afghanistan risks becoming once again a platform for international terrorists to plan and organize attacks on our homelands,” Stoltenberg said. He added that Islamic State, or ISIS, “could rebuild in Afghanistan the terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq.”

Pentagon officials briefing reporters said the decision was “conditions based,” citing no threat to national security from the draw down and saying that remaining forces could meet any remaining challenges.

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who is usually a staunch Trump ally, said on the Senate floor Monday that there’s little support in Congress for “simply walking away” from the conflicts.

“The consequences of a premature American exit” from Afghanistan “would likely be even worse than President Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq back in 2011, which fueled the rise of ISIS and a new round of global terrorism,” McConnell said. “It would be reminiscent of the humiliating American departure from Saigon in 1975.”

The move comes after Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and replaced other top officials at the Pentagon with loyalists last week. Esper sent a classified memo to the White House this month expressing concerns about additional troop cuts, the Washington Post has reported, citing two senior officials it didn’t identify.

In Kabul, Acting Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid told the Afghan parliament Tuesday there was no concern about the complete withdrawal of foreign troops.

“I don’t see any clear indication that the U.S. or NATO forces will fully withdraw from the country,” Khalid said. “Some other countries in NATO are still considering whether to remain or leave,” he said, noting Afghan forces were in charge of 96% of operations across the country and only 4% of those need foreign air support.

In a memorandum issued on Monday, Miller said his goal was to “bring the current war to an end in a responsible manner that guarantees the security of our citizens.”

Until now, U.S. officials have maintained that the drawdown of forces in Afghanistan must be “conditions-based,” in order to maintain pressure for Taliban forces to reach a peace accord with the Afghan government.

Miller, a former Green Beret and White House counterterrorism coordinator, said in a memo Friday to all Defense Department employees that “ending wars requires compromise and partnership.”

“We met the challenge; we gave it our all,” Miller said in the memo. “Now, it‘s time to come home.”

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