According to a report from CNN, US military commanders are expecting an order from President Trump to begin further troop withdrawals in Afghanistan and Iraq.
CNN cites two anonymous US officials who say the Pentagon has already received a notice known as a “warning order” to prepare for troop drawdowns. The officials said the plan is to bring troop numbers down to 2,500 in Afghanistan and 2,500 in Iraq by January 15th. There are currently approximately 4,500 troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 troops in Iraq.
President Trump’s Pentagon shake-up that started with the firing of Mark Esper was reported to be related to disagreements over troop withdrawals. The US-Taliban peace deal paved the way for all foreign forces to leave Afghanistan by Spring 2021, but US officials regularly stress the withdrawal is “conditions-based.”
In October, President Trump said on Twitter that all US troops in Afghanistan “should” be home by Christmas, but the declaration never turned into an order. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has said the number of troops in Afghanistan will be down to 2,500 by early 2021.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller sent a memo to the Pentagon last Friday that made a strong statement against “perpetual war” but also said the war against al-Qaeda “isn’t over.”
Too bad the article on fake numbers of troop deployments isn’t still up.
reduce by x number, then increase by y number Feb 2021
trump reduces by 3000, biden increases by 10,000
Pulling troops sounds like pulling teeth. And unless electorate does not make it crystal clear — the urge to keep military to “help” allies or “deter” someone — will be cemented for decades to come. This urge has already resulted in Americans “protecting” allies that are already living better then we are. Not in any way really threatened, they can indulge in providing standard of living and benefits to their population, while we insist they are in danger and shower them with protection. And then some are protected from non-existent Al-Qaeda or ISIS. Or even Taliban! If anyone knows exactly where is Al-Qaeda or ISIS are located, what are their troop numbers, where are troops stationed, where are their weapons, vehicles. Where are supplies coming from? Who is paying for their on-going costs as well as operations? And whoever is paying them surely has a say in who they plan to attack.
It is ABSOLUTELY ABSURD to believe that we have no answers to these questions. Until fall of Mosul, in fall of 2017, ISIS was located in Iraq and Syria, ISIS remained in Raqqa until fall of 2018 — and the only reason for one year gap was due to US control of the area, preventing Syria and Russia from ousting them. US preferred Kurds to liberate the area, so they can claim the territory even though Kurds do not live there. Either way — where did ISIS go?
And in which mysterious location, and with mysterious donor — are they now present? Underground?
Al-Qaeda exists only as West-protected HTS in Idlib, funded through their White Helmets. Nowhere else. And Taliban? Really. Taliban WERE students from Pakistan funded by Saudi money. They went into Afghanistan and “convinced” tribes to join them to oust pro-Russian government in Kabul, After Taliban became useless, it was time to declare them responsible for 9/11, and invade Afghanistan. Afghan tribes we are negotiating with today are not “students” — but we keep Taliban name as recognizable brand name, to justify presence.
Once in a while “ISIS” or other brand names commits an attack — hit and run style. Conveniently, nobody knows who they are or where they came from.
Excuses for maintaining standing armies abroad remain plentiful and creative. With more choreography coming.
The electorate made crystal clear, no-one likes the warmongering left.
The warmongering left progressives cheated the Presidential election; that’s what they think of the electorate.
There is undeniable statistical mathematical evidence the election was stolen on an unprecedented scale.
https://theredelephants.com/there-is-undeniable-mathematical-evidence-the-election-is-being-stolen/.
Oh those hapless dem conspirators..stole the presidency but fergot to nab the Senate while they were at it.
Oh, don’t worry, the RINOs will be quick to share the heat. They aren’t that bright and eager to abandon the Trumpian movement that gave them any legitimacy.
McConnel has already signaled displeasure with Trump’s Afghan pullout plans.
Behind closed doors, it appears negotiations with Trump on how much has to be fixed after his ‘transition’ are underway.
“Biden’s DOJ Must Determine Whether Trump Should Be Prosecuted”, Anthony Lin, Larry Liebert, Chris Strohm, Nov. 9, 2020.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/bidens-doj-must-determine-whether-trump-should-be-prosecuted
Hope the never Trumpers here are pleased with Biden-in, the inevitable result of Trump-out.
hell, I may not be wearing my glasses correctly, but I don’t see much difference between 4500 and 2500 troops in Afghanistan and 3000 and 2500 in Iraq.
Color me skeptical if anyone thinks that this means an end to these ‘endless wars’, or if they think that sleepy Joe and female war monger Flournoy can’t and won’t reverse these orders in their first two hours in office
In fact, I fully expect Biden/Harris/Flournoy to increase the current numbers of troops dramatically, including as well in Syria…..
Almost the same outcome if Trump had given the order to fully withdraw earlier then been assassinated.
Four more years, though, and Trump could have slow-ended all the Forever Wars. There’s no capacity to re-invade. As is, there’s little capacity to remain.
Even if Harris-Biden keep the economy locked down to end protest and plunder the last bits of middle class wealth to throw into the War Machine, the Forever Wars will end the hard way now.
Don’t take any notice what CNN (Clintons News Network) is reporting. It’s all fake news, everyone should know this by now.
“All this for a damn flag!”–Michelle Obama
Spoken like a Bolshevik.
On the ill-foreboding chance that Biden steals the presidency, there will be no pullout of troops but an increase ordered by the neocons. And we can expect also, another year of enforced masking… Or muzzling.