U.S. to Withdraw About 7,000 Troops From Afghanistan, Officials Say

NY Times ^

[springwater13]

The Trump administration is withdrawing roughly 7,000 troops from Afghanistan in the coming months, two defense officials said Thursday, around half of what the American military has there now.

Mr. Trump made the decision at the same time he decided he was pulling American forces out of Syria, one official said. The move is likely one of the first steps to end the United States’ involvement in the 17-year-old war.

The 14,000 American troops currently in Afghanistan are divided between training and advising Afghan forces and a counterterror mission against groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. The reduction, one official said, is in an effort to make Afghan forces more reliant on their own troops and not Western support.

[DoughtyOne]

I want you to try to think in terms other than spending and over-reach.

What do you think goes along with being in those regions? We supply them. We utilize logistics. It’s all training for when we need to do it in an emergency.

What happens when we do pull all our forces from these places?

Do we keep the equipment sitting idle, or do we just let it rot and then don’t have it?

All our military transports, the training, other equipment, the methods and practices that need to be used over and over to remain sharp, evaporate.

When we no longer have troops on station fighting battles, we only have men who have never fought battles training others how to fight.

There is so much more to this than just pulling back our troops and patting ourselves on the back for making a really great move.

Some of this is absolutely destructive to our readiness.

What happens when we pull all our troops home?

Why we cut our troops strength.

This means all the men we had trained, are wasted.

The next conflict we have, we have far fewer experienced men training newer soldiers how to fight.

Our ability to be up and running become woefully inadequate.

At at time when China is reaching out, you want us to pull everyone home.

Then when we need bases over there, we have none. China was them and fully staffed.

You couldn’t be doing more to help the Left if you tried.

[marajade]

We’ve been there for 17 years and the Taliban control 1/2 of the Country. At some point you just gotta cut your losses and get the heck out.

[Don Corleone]

Sometimes weird things have to be done. During WWII we cooperated with and supplied the Ruskies and the Chinese and for the second time in a generation bailed out the French. Politics does make strange bedfellows.

[DoughtyOne]

And if the Taliban is not tied up dealing with us, they can focus on other things.

Those other things are the government of Pakistan, that has a nuclear arsenal.

Do you want the Taliban to have a nuclear arsenal?

[marajade]

It seems the people of Afghanistan want them to rule.

[rfp1234]

Too many strategic minerals in Africa, to leave it to the Chicoms.

[DoughtyOne]

Just sayin’ it isn’t going to be pretty what happens if we just up and walk out.

It’s always harder to fix a big mess than to prevent one.

[DoughtyOne]

I would tend to agree, but I’m not fully aware of the strategic minerals there.

[elpadre]

Mr. President - you promised us you would not telegraph the troop movements to the enemy. You have now initiated a major attack by radical Islam on a weakened force. It is now a question of when and where. Please listen to your military advisors.

[marajade]

Why is it ours to fix?

[DoughtyOne]

You see anyone else out there?

It needs to be done.

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Freda Payne - Bring The Boys Home
(click to hear on YouTube)

Fathers are pleading, Lovers are all alone
Mothers are praying; "Send our sons back home"

You marched them away, yes you did now
On ships and planes
To a senseless war, facing death in vain

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)

Why don't you turn the ships around
Everybody ought'a lay your weapons down

Can't you see 'em marching 'cross the sky?
All the soldiers that have died?
Tryin' to get home
Can't you see them tryin' to get home?
Tryin' to get home - they're tryin' to get home

Cease all fire - tell 'em about it
On the battlefield
Enough men have already been wounded and killed

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)

Mothers, fathers and lovers, can't you see them?
Tryin' to get home
Can't you see them tryin' to get home?
Tryin' to get home, Tryin' to get home?

Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring the boys home (bring 'em back alive)

What they doing over there now (bring 'em back alive)
When we need them over here now (bring 'em back alive)
What they doing over there now (bring 'em back alive)
When we need them over here now (bring 'em back alive)

Bring 'em all, bring 'em all home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring 'em all, bring 'em all home (bring 'em back alive)
Bring 'em all, bring 'em all home (bring 'em back alive)

[TADSLOS]

You are hand wringing and projecting what may or may not happen with readiness when we collapse the tent whenever we leave.

There’s a lot of other places around the globe where our troops are needed and actually wanted than in West Asia and Africa.

We have plenty of closer range threats in the Western hemisphere, starting with our own borders and including a growing presence of Chinese and Hezbollah in Central and South America.

Africa? Pfft... that place is a black hole. Blacker than Afghanistan. Not worth the blood and treasure to police it.

It’s past time for a reset and re-evaluation of what is really worth fighting for to secure our nation (or what’s left of it). Let the ungrateful ingrates of the EU/UN step up and play stupid games in Africa and the ME.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you for your response.

[inchworm]

Bringing troops home may free up money to build wall

[robowombat]

We supply them. We utilize logistics. It’s all training for when we need to do it in an emergency.

Uh, actually that is what K Street is heavily involved in The so-called Logistics Civil Augmentation program has been an endless gusher of money for the connected in both Trashistan and Iraq, The Army under Billy Jeff just about eliminated much of the so-called Combat Service Support functions by uniformed personnel. The great idea of the beltway wizards of smart was to just contract most of that out. This is why butt boy Rubio and all the other GOPERs on the K Street payroll have been myrating today. DJT has broken a good many rice bowls and the shadow government is really irritated.

[Jumper]

By next week NATO will be on the receiving end of cuts in Europe.

No money for defense spending in Syria or other theaters snd using the savings to refurbish the military.

What Congress and the Senate have done is said to Trump America cannot afford the Wall. Trump's reply is kill their wars, trim war related purchases which in turn hit defense companies in their states.

[marajade]

Well we’ve been there 17 years and you say it’s not done yet. Just how much longer do you think it would take?

[DEPcom]

If we cannot spend $5B on U.S.A border security, why should we spend money on other folks security.

[mikeIII]

Pulling out of Afghanistan means we can’t avert Pakistan/Taliban becoming threats again. That’s bound to happen. We must therefore, be prepared to bomb remotely at the first signs of trouble - which is something we should’ve done after 9/11.