Edited by Emily Sicard
Leaving Afghanistan: According to CNN, U.S. President Barack Obama will announce that he will bring home 30,000 troops, 5,000 by the end of this year. The exact plan seems vague. What is clear is that Leon Panetta will get the withdrawal started: The former CIA director has been confirmed as secretary of defense.
This Wednesday, Obama will announce the withdrawal of 30,000 soldiers from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. CNN broke the news, citing an unnamed source in the White House. This will reverse the 30,000 soldier surge Obama ordered in December 2009, though the plan also ensures that a strong force remains available next spring and summer as the U.S. military has demanded.
The withdrawal of the first 5,000 soldiers should begin this July. The Pentagon has not rejected this plan, because the first to return are not fighting forces but soldiers employed in the construction of bases and runways.
Panetta Confirmed as Secretary of Defense
The withdrawal of troops will be one of the first large tasks facing future Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed the former director of the CIA as Robert Gates’ successor. Panetta is expected to take over the position on the July 1. David Petraeus will become the new CIA director; he is currently the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
At a party meeting on Monday, Obama hinted that he would favor a significant troop withdrawal. By the end of the year, U.S. officials want to give more responsibility to the Afghan troops. U.S. presidential elections are next November, and Obama feels political pressure to signal that the end of U.S. engagement at Hindu Kusch, promised for 2014, lies within reach. After the successful operation against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Americans now see the war in a more positive light, though more than half still oppose the war.
The exact schedule Obama has in mind is not yet clear. On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the president had not made any definite decisions. The outgoing commander of troops in Afghanistan, David Petraeus, recently personally presented Obama with different options.
Armed Forces Campaign for a “Cosmetic” Withdrawal
Petraeus himself, along with the chiefs of the armed forces, were campaigning for a more or less cosmetic withdrawal to ensure military success against the Taliban in the coming year. A number of political advisors in the Obama White House, led by Vice President Joe Biden, argued for a withdrawal of the first 30,000 soldiers over the next 12 months.
A possible compromise could send the first 15,000 U.S. soldiers back home by the end of this year. Another 15,000 would withdraw by the end of 2012. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has recommended withdrawing only 10,000 soldiers by winter and keeping the additional 20,000 soldiers in Afghanistan until next fall. It is also possible that Obama is following a State Department proposition and is only setting the end of the withdrawal for 2012 while leaving the exact process up to the military.
Even after this withdrawal, almost 70,000 U.S. soldiers would remain in Afghanistan. When Obama took office there were only about 35,000. Originally the White House hoped it could announce not only a troop withdrawal but also initial success in talks with the Taliban aimed at a political solution to the conflict. These secret negotiations seem to be in a deadlock.
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