Plans to substantially reduce the staff at the US Embassy in Kabul,
Afghanistan are going to be started much sooner than previously
indicated. What were initially plans for 2020 are now starting at the end of May, and will be completed by September.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo intends to cut the staff roughly in half,
from 1,500 to just over 750. Officials say this is part of a plan to
transition the staff elsewhere around the world, focusing on US
competition with Russia and China.
This comes just four years after the US spent $800 million expanding the
embassy to handle the enormous staff. Analysts are warning that the
move will anger Afghan President Ghani, who will view it as a
“betrayal.”
The real question though is what impact the staff cuts will have on the
peace process, as the US is engaged in very complex negotiations with
the Taliban to try to end 18 years of US occupation.
US Accelerates Plan to Slash Afghan Embassy Staff
Aide: Drawdown to start May 31, end by September
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.
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