WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled his administration's plan for future Afghan engagement which envisages conclusion to combat mission by the end of the current year, presence of 9800 troops post-2014 and then complete military withdrawal by the end of 2016.
"America's combat mission will be over by the end of this year," he said in statement from the White House while also making clear that the post-2014 military presence in dependent on conclusion of a bilateral security agreement between Washington and Kabul.
Starting next year, Obama said, Afghans would be fully responsible for securing their country.
"American personnel will be in an advisory role. We will no longer patrol Afghan cities or towns, mountains or valleys. That is a task for the Afghan people."
"We're open to cooperating with Afghans on two narrow missions after 2014: training Afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda," he stated.
Elaborating on the future missions, he noted that at the beginning of 2015, the US will have approximately 98,00 US service members in different parts of the country, together with our NATO allies and other partners.
"By the end of 2015, we will have reduced that presence by roughly half, and we will have consolidated our troops in Kabul and on Bagram Airfield. One year later, by the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component, just as we've done in Iraq.
On the international commitment to Afghanistan, he said, the world community will continue to support Afghans as they build their country for years to come.
"But our relationship will not be defined by war -- it will be shaped by our financial and development assistance, as well as our diplomatic support. Our commitment to Afghanistan is rooted in the strategic partnership that we agreed to in 2012. And this plan remains consistent with discussions we"ve had with our NATO allies. Just as our allies have been with us every step of the way in Afghanistan, we expect that our allies will be with us going forward.
"Third, we will only sustain this military presence after 2014 if the Afghan government signs the Bilateral Security Agreement that our two governments have already negotiated. This Agreement is essential to give our troops the authorities they need to fulfill their mission, while respecting Afghan sovereignty. The two final Afghan candidates in the run-off election for President have each indicated that they would sign this agreement promptly after taking office. So I'm hopeful that we can get this done."
Obama remarked the Americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them.
"Yet this is how wars end in the 21st century -- not through signing ceremonies, but through decisive blows against our adversaries, transitions to elected governments, security forces who take the lead and ultimately full responsibility. We remain committed to a sovereign, secure, stable, and unified Afghanistan. And toward that end, we will continue to support Afghan-led efforts to promote peace in their country through reconciliation. We have to recognize that Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not America's responsibility to make it one.
The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans. But what the United States can do -- what we will do -- is secure our interests and help give the Afghans a chance, an opportunity to seek a long, overdue and hard-earned peace.
Comments
Comments are closed.