Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday as the Pentagon is executing a plan to bring troop numbers down to 2,500 by January 15th.
“So I’m the guy who’s drawing it down to 2,500 on the president’s behalf,” Miller told a group of soldiers, according to Military.com. “I firmly believe that’s the right thing to do.” Miller also met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
While the current drawdown is being executed, an amendment in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would block funds to bring troops home until the Pentagon, State Department, and the DNI submit a report to Congress about how the drawdown would affect US security.
The assessment would be required as soon as the NDAA becomes law, meaning it could freeze the current drawdown. Assessments would also be required when troop numbers go below 4,000, and again at 2,000.
President Trump has yet to sign the NDAA and is expected to veto the $740.5 billion legislation. But both chambers of Congress passed the spending bill with well over the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Miller also ordered a drawdown in Iraq, where troop numbers are expected to be reduced to 2,500, down from 3,000, by January 15th. The Pentagon is also withdrawing the majority of the approximately 800 troops in Somalia, although those soldiers are only being repositioned elsewhere in East Africa, and the drone war in Somalia will continue.