GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham on Thursday swiftly criticized President Barack Obama’s decision to delay the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, saying the current U.S. presence there is already insufficient.
“While I am glad President Obama has dropped his plan to abandon the region entirely, if he is truly committed to fighting terrorism and securing a stable Afghanistan, he shouldn’t shortchange what our military commanders have said they need to complete the mission,” Bush said in a statement.
Also in a statement, Graham called Obama’s decision one “that will require our men and women in uniform to accept an incredibly high risk, with little support, simply because he’s the president who promised to end wars.”
Graham added that he would have a different strategy as commander-in-chief.
“As president, I will follow the advice of my commanders and require a conditions-based withdrawal — not an artificial time line,” he said.
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.
“Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be,” Obama said in making the announcement.
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.