General Warns Against Afghan Troop Cuts, Citing Progress

Insists Level Should Stay the Same Through 2011

While insisting once again that the war is making “progress,” Army Major General James Terry, the commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, warned against any troop cuts in the region, saying the situation was fragile.

Maj. Gen. Terry insists it was unlikely that the troop level would drop at all in the region through 2011, insisting the Taliban remains a threat to locals who cooperate with the occupation forces.

State Department official Henry Ensher, who was also touting the “progress” in the war today, seemed to take a similar position, suggesting “its going to be important for some time to maintain a really strong level of commitment.”

The official position on the Afghan War has been extremely nebulous, as Obama Administration officials continue to refer to the July 2011 drawdown while others have disavowed it over a year ago, and Vice President Joe Biden vowed earlier this week that the US would stay in Afghanistan “well beyond 2014.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.