Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter on Oct. 14 confirmed that the U.S. military will maintain a sizeable presence in Afghanistan past the end of the year and likely for the foreseeable future in the style of its residual force in South Korea.
“It is not a question of whether, but how, to continue the mission in Afghanistan,” Carter said during a speech at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
“It is important to say these things because the narrative that we are leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating,” he added. “We’re not. We can’t. And to do so would be to not take advantage of the success we’ve had to date.”
During a tour of European capitals and a NATO summit the week of Oct. 5, Carter said U.S. coalition partners expressed a willingness to contribute to an enduring foreign presence in Afghanistan. The comments come about a week after the Taliban took control of the strategically valuable northern city of Kunduz, which has been wrested from their grasp by Afghan troops with the support of U.S. personnel.
In March the Obama administration decided to maintain 9,800 personnel in Afghanistan through the end of this year. Now the Defense Department is “formulating options for 2016 and beyond and will make adjustments to planned U.S. presence based on current circumstances.”
Carter said the Defense Department’s budget submission for fiscal year 2017 would include “critical financial support” for the Afghan national defense and security forces (ANDSF) to help it sustain its end strength of 352,000 troops beyond 2017.
Carter said that Afghan forces have proven themselves to be capable fighters that are adequately trained and equipped to provide security in the nation.
“That said Taliban advances in parts of the country underscore the reality that this is ad remains a difficult fight,” Carter said. “We understand that Afghanistan still needs assistance and Resolute Support is working closely with the ANDSF to ensure that they are prepared to set the conditions for Afghan-led stability in this vital region. No one can do this better than the Army, which learned a lot about counterterrorism operations, local forces training and related operational skills over the course of two wars.