Trump Afghan ‘Withdrawal’ To Leave 8,600 Troops

by | Aug 29, 2019

Trump Afghan ‘Withdrawal’ To Leave 8,600 Troops

by | Aug 29, 2019

Says US will ‘always’ have a presence in Afghanistan

Attempts by US negotiators to finalize a peace deal to get US troops out of Afghanistan continue to struggle in the face of President Trump’s comments, which continue to focus on all the troops he’s not going to get out of Afghanistan.

Trump said there would be “a determination” about Afghanistan at some point, but that the US will withdraw some troops, and leave 8,600 in Afghanistan, saying it would be “very well controlled.” This is less than half of the US presence.

Less than half falls dramatically short of the number of troops the Taliban wanted to leave Afghanistan, which is every single one. Trump only added to trouble in negotiating that by vowing that the US will always “keep a presence” in Afghanistan even if a deal is reached.

Trump does sometimes over-promise for the sake of audience he’s addressing, but months of fruitful negotiations on getting US troop levels to zero can’t coexist with a Trump promise to keep troops there no matter what, and that’s almost certain to be a problem the next time the US meets with the Taliban for talks.

Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is the News Editor for Antiwar.com, your best source for antiwar news, viewpoints and activities. He has 10 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times and the Detroit Free Press.

View all posts

Our Books

Shop books published by the Libertarian Institute.

libetarian institute longsleeve shirt

Our Books

cb0cb1ef 3fcb 417d 80d8 4eef7bbd8290

Recent Articles

Recent

TGIF:  Israel and Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall

TGIF: Israel and Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall

Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky (1880-1940) was a key figure in the development of the Zionist movement, which led to the founding of Israel in 1948. After breaking from mainline Zionism, Jabotinsky, born in Odessa (Ukraine), established Revisionist Zionism, a more openly...

read more
The Smallness of Mark Levin

The Smallness of Mark Levin

In 2009, I was working part time in talk radio in Charleston, South Carolina as an on-air personality. I was also the token conservative columnist for the local, liberal free weekly paper. I wasn’t making a lot of money, but I was working in the field I was most...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This