President
Barack Obama will announce Thursday that U.S. forces will remain in
Afghanistan at their current levels throughout much of 2016, marking yet
another delay in the administration's plans for completing its
withdrawal from the 14-year conflict.
He is scheduled to give a public statement addressing the
decision at 11 a.m. from the Roosevelt Room in the
White House.
The
decision to maintain 9,800 troops in Afghanistan until nearly the end
of Obama's time in office comes after months of discussions with
Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani, and the nation's CEO, Abdullah
Abdullah, senior administration officials said Wednesday night. Obama
also consulted with U.S. military commanders on the ground in
Afghanistan as well as his entire national security team, officials
added.
According to the new White House
plan, the number of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan would drop
to 5,500 by early 2017, as Obama prepares to leave office. At that
point, U.S. forces would be based in the Afghan capital of Kabul, as
well as in military installations in Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
"The
President will announce the results of what has been extensive and
months long review," a senior administration official said.
This
is the second draw-down delay announced by Obama this year. In March,
Obama said he planned to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan 5,500 U.S.
military personnel by the end of this year, and then to an
"embassy-only" presence by the end of 2016.
"The
timeline for a withdrawal down to a embassy center presence, a
normalization of our presence in Afghanistan, remains the end of 2016,"
Obama said in a joint press conference with Ghani last March.
Administration
officials stressed U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan would
continue to serve under two missions -- to root out remnants of al Qaeda
as well as train and equip Afghan security forces. U.S. forces could
also conduct counterterrorism operations against elements of ISIS in
Afghanistan, should the group present a threat to the U.S. homeland,
senior administration officials added.
The
original White House goal was to hand over the counterterrorism side of
the U.S. mission to Afghan security forces this year.
"It's in our interest to build up the Afghan security forces," said a senior administration official.
The
estimated annual cost of maintaining current U.S. force levels in
Afghanistan is $14.6 billion, a separate senior administration official
said.
Obama's announcement is a major
political reversal as he vowed to conclude the U.S. commitment in
Afghanistan before he leaves office.
"We will bring America's longest war to a responsible end," Obama said at a Rose Garden ceremony in May 2014.
Retired
Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst and former intelligence
officer, said Obama's decision is simply "kicking this can down the
road" for the next president. Obama will be out of office by the time
troops are set to be drawn down again.
"This
is this administration pushing this off to the next administration
because the next time they have to make this decision, it will be a
different president in the White House," Francona said.
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