After weeks of Pentagon officials dismissing reports of a US drawdown
from Afghanistan as a “rumor,” Vice President Mike Pence is now
confirming that President Trump is indeed in “the process of evaluating” whether to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
This is unsurprising, as since summer, the ever-worsening situation on
the ground in Afghanistan has had officials anticipating that the Trump
Administration would review the 2017 escalation. Some at the Pentagon
have been trying to talk them out of any drawdown.
By late December, there were reports that Trump had already ordered a
drawdown of between 5,000 and 7,000 troops. Pentagon officials spent
weeks denying this, but it was only in recent days that the White House
said no such order had been made.
Having disavowed the order, Pence is now confirming that exactly such an
order is being actively considered. There is no indication of when such
a decision will be made, though the early false reports have aligned
much of Congress against any such drawdown.
Trump ‘Evaluating’ Withdrawal of US Troops From Afghanistan
Pence confirms Trump is in the process of making a decision
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.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
