US to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan

[webfact]

US to keep 9,800 Afghanistan troops after 2014

WASHINGTON: -- The US will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after the US concludes its combat mission at the end of this year, President Barack Obama has said.

Under the plan he announced at the White House, the US will then gradually withdraw troops until only a small residual force remains after 2016.

The remaining troops would guard the US embassy, train Afghan forces and support counter-terrorism operations.

But the plan depends on the Afghans signing a joint security agreement.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27593518


-- BBC 2014-05-28

[boomerangutang]

The squeaky wheel gets the most oil.

[Lancelot]

Naaa, bring all the troops home (back to the US) While they are at it, bring US troops back from Europe, Japan, Korea as well. Spend the savings from a reduced military budget on Veterans care- and prosecution of negligent VA officials who have taken incompetence to a higher level

[alfalfa19]

the 9800 will probably be dwarfed by the number of hired guns, or mercenaries. this is big business.

[Credo]

Those troops will remain so that the terrorists have some target and stay away from planning bombings and mayhem outside of the country.

[kamahele]

Good news that our men in women in uniform for the most part will be removed from this very dangerous place. Best of luck to the Afghan people. I hope they are able to find a way to live in peace. The odds are stacked against them however.

[Jay Sata]

Another failed Bush,Cheney and Rumsfeld adventure that cost many lives.

Vietnam should have been the lesson that steered the USA away from futile ill though out

military expeditions.

The so called war on drugs has achieved nothing.

If they were legal and free from a drug dependency unit there would be no market for the racketeers.

Look what happened in the US when alcohol was prohibited.

[neverdie]

I wonder what the total financial cost of the entire thing would work out at....from start to finish.

I don't think the human toll can ever be correctly assessed.

When will humans ever learn ?

[Morch]

Did everyone get to the last paragraph? It has a big "but": "But the plan depends on the Afghans signing a joint security agreement."

The present president, Karziai, has repeatedly said he would not sign any agreement.

This "news" article is a total farce and very misleading; there is NO agreement to leave any troops in Afghanistan at this time. Who picks these so-called "news" threads? Do they read what they put up?

The OP probably ends there due to TVF's proper use policy with regard to quotes from media sources

If you read the whole article linked to, the next lines are:

While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign such an agreement, the Obama administration appears to be confident either of the two candidates seeking to replace him would do so.

Can be argued how realistic this confidence is.