President Trump told his advisers that he wants to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the November 2020 presidential election, according to 5 current and former administration and military officials.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he wants to pullby the November 2020 presidential election, according to five current and former administration and military officials.
A Pentagon spokesman said the department doesn't comment on military planning. The American troop presence in Afghanistan is conditions-based, the spokesman added.Trump, when asked to specify how many troops will be pulled out of Afghanistan, said Friday:"We're reducing it. We've been there for 19 years. We're really serving as policemen. We could win Afghanistan in two days or three days or four days if we wanted, but I'm not looking to kill 10 million people.
The president's aides convinced him to backtrack on his directive to immediately begin troop withdrawal, promising an eventual Afghan peace deal that would achieve a drawdown. And in the following months the State Department began a so-called"right-sizing" exercise to cut the embassy staff by as much as half, according to a congressional staffer. It's expected to be complete by the end of September.
A person familiar with the internal debate said Pompeo has backed a full withdrawal from Afghanistan while National Security Adviser John Bolton has sided with the military in supporting keeping a small troop presence there."There is no deadline for the American mission in Afghanistan," a senior administration official said in a statement."The president has been clear that, as we make progress on the peace process, we will begin to scale back our troop presence.
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