Donald Trump marking Veterans Day in November 2020
Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Donald Trump’s administration has announced new US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq to be completed just days before he leaves the White House.
The US president ordered the number of American troops in Afghanistan to drop to 2,500, roughly half the current force size there, and similarly to 2,500 in Iraq, a reduction of around 500.
The new force sizes are to be in place by January 15 next year, just five days before he hands over power to Joe Biden, the president-elect, at the inauguration.
Minutes after the announcement, several explosions were reported in the Green Zone near the US embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
The move reflects Mr Trump’s long-expressed ambition to bring home soldiers from what he has dubbed “endless foreign wars” in the Middle East, though it is not a complete withdrawal.
It follows recent public warnings, including from Nato general secretary Jens Stoltenberg and Republican senators, that a speedy withdrawal could trigger the re-emergence of the terrorist group Isil.
The announcement was made by Christopher Miller, the acting defence secretary appointed after Mark Esper was sacked from the role earlier this month, in an address to reporters.
Mr Miller called the troop draw-down “prudent, well-planned and coordinated” and framed the move as a speeding up of the existing policy rather than a radical departure from it.
“This is consistent with our established plans and strategic objectives, supported by the American people and does not equate to a change in US policy or objectives,” he said.
Mr Miller said he had discussed the troop changes with Mr Stoltenberg and Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, as he insisted that allies had been kept informed.
“We went in together, we adjust together and when the time is right we will leave together,” Mr Miller said of American’s allies in wars in the Middle East.
Looking forward to 2021, Mr Miller said: “With the blessings of providence in the coming year, we will finish this generational war and bring our men and women home.”
He also warned off foes from exploiting the situation, saying: “If the forces of terror, instability, division and hate begin a deliberate campaign to disrupt our efforts we stand ready to apply the capabilities required to thwart them.”
Minutes later Robert O’Brien, the White House national security adviser, said that the 2,500 troops would remain in each country to "defend embassies".
He added that "it is President Trump’s hope that they will come home entirely” by May, though that decision will lie with the next president, Mr Biden.
The Pentagon did not mention any changes to troop numbers in Syria, another focus of Mr Trump’s previous calls for full withdrawal. Around 1,000 US troops currently are stationed there.
In Kabul, the Afghan capital, recent months have seen a surge in crime as the future of US forces in the country was clouded in uncertainty.
Earlier on Tuesday Mr Stoltenberg had made clear his disapproval of a rapid withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in a comment given to CNN.
The Nato general secretary said: “The price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high. Afghanistan risks becoming once again a platform for international terrorists to plan and organise attacks on our homelands. And ISIS could rebuild in Afghanistan the terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq.”
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, had also made a rare break from Mr Trump in public on Monday by warning against rushed troop withdrawals in Afghanistan.
He has said on the Senate floor: “It would be reminiscent of the humiliating American departure from Saigon in 1975. We’d be abandoning our partners in Afghanistan.”
Separately, reports have surfaced that Mr Trump discussed options for an attack to counter Iran’s growing nuclear program last week.
The New York Times and Fox News reported the US president met with senior government officials last week to discuss Iran’s growing uranium stockpile at its major nuclear site.
Advisers cautioned Mr Trump against reaching for a military response, warning it could trigger an escalation, according to both media outlets.
It follows Mr Trump dismissing not just Mr Esper, the former defence secretary said to have voiced caution over a quick Afghanistan troop withdrawal, but other top Pentagon officials, replacing some with loyalists.
Mr Trump has refused to concede the election to Mr Biden and on Tuesday his campaign continued to pursue a legal challenge in Pennsylvania, a state where he narrowly lost.
On Tuesday Mr Biden, the US president-elect, spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president.
Mr Netanyahu has been a firm ally of Mr Trump and his acceptance of Mr Biden as the president-elect underscores Mr Trump’s defeat at the election.
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