Why America won’t exit Afghanistan any time soon

[unhappycamper]

http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/unfinished-business-why-america-wont-exit-afghanistan-any-time-soon/



Barack Obama vowed to withdraw from America’s ‘longest war.’ Now, he’s having to face the reality that Afghanistan is unfixable.

Why America won’t exit Afghanistan any time soon
Michael Petrou
October 23, 2015

American President Barack Obama will not end his country’s wars in the Middle East after all.

Obama campaigned for the presidency on a pledge to end America’s conflict in Iraq, and, shortly after his election, promised to pull all American troops from that country by the end of 2011. He brought the troops home as promised, but more than 3,000 are now back, helping to battle an insurgency by the so-called Islamic State jihadist group.

During his 2012 re-election campaign, Obama said he would “end the war in Afghanistan in 2014.” American and NATO troops duly held a ceremony that December to mark the transition in their role from combat to support and training. Some 9,800 American troops still remained in the country, but Obama had pledged in May 2014 to halve that by the end of this year, and said that by the end of 2016, “our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul.”

Last week, citing an enduring American commitment to the country, he said the 9,800 U.S. troops still there would stay through most of next year. Some 5,500 will remain when Obama exits the White House in January 2017, dispersed at bases throughout the country.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Slight correction to the timeline of the promises to leave: