US may rethink Afghanistan troop cuts

Obama plans to slash the number of US troops from about 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in 2017

BRUSSELS: The United States told allies on Wednesday it was reexamining plans to cut its troop numbers in Afghanistan next year, Britain said, as other Nato forces committed to stay on to help fight a resurgent Taliban.

President Barack Obama has planned to slash the number of US troops from about 9,800 to 5,500 before he leaves office in 2017, despite calls from former commanders and envoys to halt the drawdown.

“Everyone has an interest that our effort there is sustained,” Britain’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told reporters. “That’s why as (US Defence Secretary) Ash Carter told us, the troop numbers are being looked at again ... This is the wrong time to walk away from Afghanistan.”

Carter declined to confirm that however, telling a news conference it was not formally a topic of discussion at a Nato ministers’ meeting on Wednesday. But he said Obama remained willing to review security in Afghanistan and its impact on force levels.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2016.