Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Says Mission Could Be Extended
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says he could recommend extending the mission and maintaining U.S. troops in the country, Army Times reports.
“I’m taking a look and assessing every day based on the enemy situation, based on how much we’re getting done with the Afghans, how they’re progressing on their lines of effort, how the [Train, Advise and Assist mission] is going, how the government’s coming along, [and] if we can really get after the objectives that we set,” said Gen. John Campbell, commander of the Resolute Support mission, during an interview Jan. 15 with Army Times.
There are about 10,600 U.S. troops in Afghanistan today; plans call for that number to drop to 9,800 by May 1 and 5,500 by the end of the year. It’s too early to say, Campbell said, if he’ll ask for permission to keep more troops in theater.
“Do I need to go back in and say do we need longer or do we need that glide slope? I’ll continue to work that with my chain of command at [Central Command] and the Joint Staff,” he said. “We just got to Resolute Support, and we have another fighting season to go through. We’re just learning at this reduced level. I think in the next couple of months I’ll be able to make that call.”
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/top-u-s-commander-in-afghanistan-says-mission-could-be-extended/
