|
 But Ghani's comment adds to a growing debate over whether the
White House will stick to its plans, already amended twice, of
cutting U.S. troops to about 5,000 by the end of this year and
drawing down to a "normal" U.S. embassy presence in Kabul at the end
of 2016.
Ghani may have also given political cover to Obama should the
president decide he needs to renege on his withdrawal pledge to
preserve shaky gains made over 13 years of war and to avoid a
collapse of local forces that Iraq witnessed last year.
"My guess is that he probably will re-evaluate these decisions in
due course," said James Dobbins, who was Obama's special
representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan until July.
Among the factors at play are the course of the war itself;
reconciliation efforts between the government and Taliban; U.S.
public opinion and the 2016 U.S. presidential debate.
If Obama decides to change course, he may find a more receptive
domestic audience.
 American skepticism about the Afghanistan war seems to be moderating
in the face of the rise of Islamic State fighters who have seized
swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory following the U.S. withdrawal
from Iraq in 2011.
According to a Washington Post-ABC poll published on Monday, support
for the war in Afghanistan has risen since 2013. A 56 percent
majority says it has not been worth fighting, but 38 percent said
the war was worth the costs, up 10 percentage points from the record
low in July 2013.
Speaking in a television interview on Sunday, Ghani made his case
for a greater U.S. presence in an understated manner.
"Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be
dogmas," Ghani told the "60 Minutes" program on CBS. "If both
parties, or, in this case, multiple partners, have done their best
to achieve the objectives and progress is very real, then there
should be willingness to re-examine a deadline."
Asked about Ghani's comments, Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon
spokesman, said, "The drawdown plan remains in effect and there have
been no changes to the drawdown timeline."
'REAL APPREHENSION'
When announcing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on May 27,
Obama gave no hint of flexibility, saying the United States would
have approximately 9,800 troops there at the start of 2015, roughly
half that number at the end of the year, and would be down to "a
normal embassy presence" when 2016 ended.
[to top of second column] |
While stressing that the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan would
end in 2014, Obama made two exceptions: targeting the remnants of al
Qaeda and training Afghan security forces
However, he has already shifted his May 27 stance in two respects
since making the speech last year.
Late last year, Obama decided to keep about 10,800 military
personnel in Afghanistan temporarily, 1,000 more than originally
planned, due to a shortfall in troops from other nations.
He also quietly authorized a third exception, allowing U.S. troops
to act to save Afghan forces "in extremis" from being overwhelmed by
the Taliban.
Ghani is expected to visit Washington in the coming months, giving
him a chance to make his case for a longer U.S. presence in private
with Obama and perhaps also to the U.S. public.
He may find an ally in the U.S. military.
"These are generals who have spent the most important parts of their
careers fighting this war and the war in Iraq. They don’t want to
see all the gains they have made obliterated," said Jonah Blank, a
former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member now at the
Rand Corporation think tank.
"In the upper reaches of the officer corps there is a real
apprehension about what happens if we draw down too quickly."
(Additional reporting by David Alexander and Steve Holland;
Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Jason Szep and Cynthia
Osterman)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
