Posted on 06/22/2014 6:21:25 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
As the White House ponders its next moves in Iraq, it also faces the question of how to best prevent the precarious security order it has established in Afghanistan from unraveling once U.S. troops withdraw at the end of 2016.
That question was put to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey when the pair appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday to discuss the Defense Department’s budget.
“First, Afghanistan is not Iraq, internally, historically, ethnically, religiously,” Hagel responded. “Second, there is strong support in Afghanistan today for America’s continued [presence] as well as our NATO ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] there.”
Dempsey agreed, saying it was “unlikely” Afghanistan’s security status would devolve to create the kind of vulnerabilities that allowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to take root in Iraq. Some 10,000 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan through this year, and all will be fully gone by the end of 2016.
(Excerpt) Read more at america.aljazeera.com ...
Well duh!!!
CC
Every time these guys and any other politician opens their mouth, their own words return to bite them in the butt. They are so sure of themselves at the time of uttering them and yet they can’t backpedal enough to get out of the way once they’re proven wrong.
vaudine
I will answer the headline question. It can follow in Iraq’s footsteps in that the enemy will take over the country as soon as we leave. And it will.
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