Obama's Goal of Ending Two Wars Now Slipping Beyond His Grasp
President Barack Obama’s promise to end two U.S. wars has receded beyond the horizon of his presidency.
Having been pulled at least part way back into Iraq, Obama now is scrapping his goal of leaving Afghanistan by the time he leaves office. The president announced Thursday that he will keep 9,800 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan through much of next year and that 5,500 will stay after 2017.
“I do not support the idea of endless war,” Obama said Thursday at the White House. Even so, he added, “I am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort. In the Afghan government, we have a serious partner that wants our help.”
The decision marks the second time Obama has had to alter his schedule to wind down U.S. military operations in Afghanistan in the face of a persistent Taliban and setbacks in building up Afghan government forces. The U.S. military personnel in the country were scheduled to be drawn down through 2016, with all but 1,000 troops pulled out by early 2017. But many Afghans have said that they won’t be ready to carry the anti-Taliban fight alone by the end of next year.
Afghan Plea
Administration officials insisted the decision wasn’t driven by the fresh offensive by the Taliban, which has grown more brazen since the U.S. declared an end to its direct combat role last December. Those include an attack on the Afghan parliament in June and the seizure -- since reversed -- of the strategic northern city of Kunduz two weeks ago.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-10-15/obama-s-goal-of-ending-two-wars-now-slipping-beyond-his-grasp
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