U.S Reconsidering 2016 Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Plans

As Ashton Carter is sworn in as Secretary of Defense four days ago, following Chuck Hagel, he has already begun works in the international world as a compass for global safety and American conflict-resolution. For most of the American public, one of the largest domestic concerns is regarding troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. It has proven to be a consistent theme for much of President Obama's administration, and promises to do so were made very early on. The deadline was announced to be 2016 for all combative troops to be withdrawn, and by 2017 we will have only standard "normal" security troops stationed. However, as Carter visited Afghani President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday, talks of moving the deadline have come into play. Ghani stated that he would like President Obama to re-examine the 2016 to "ensure his country has the support it needs to maintain security gains". This reminded me of the very prominent issues Afghanistan faced when US troops had left the first time after the Cold War had ended. Many of the Mujahideen who had been trained by American troops to defeat Soviets were left with the many toys of war with little to no guidance to reconstruct civil society. Ghani's fear reiterates this idea that it needs American troops for obvious safety concerns regarding the Taliban insurgency. Will this mean the American public has to wait another two or more years to bring all of its troops home? 

Yoomna Rahim

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/21/us/afghanistan-carter/index.html