Obama announces plan to leave only 9,800 troops in Afghanistan
Washington: US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he planned to leave 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.The troops will be reduced by roughly half by the end of 2015 and draw down to
On Tuesday, Obama talked on phone about his Afghanistan announcement with his British, Italian and German counterparts, as well as Karzai, the White House said.
During Obama's visit to Afghanistan, he and Karzai did not meet, only spoke on phone shortly before he wrapped up the four-hour trip there Sunday.
Buck McKeon, the Democratic congressman who heads House Armed Services Committee, dismissed Obama's drawdown plan, saying it "doesn't make a lick of sense strategically" as the threat of Al Qaeda still exists in Afghanistan.
"Does the president seek to replicate his mistakes in Iraq where he abandoned the region to chaos and failed to forge a real security partnership?" US news website Politico quoted McKeon as saying.
American troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011 after the US and Iraq failed to reach a security agreement to keep a small number of American force in the country. Since then, Iraq has seen a resurgence of violence.
During Obama's visit to Afghanistan, he and Karzai did not meet, only spoke on phone shortly before he wrapped up the four-hour trip there Sunday.
Buck McKeon, the Democratic congressman who heads House Armed Services Committee, dismissed Obama's drawdown plan, saying it "doesn't make a lick of sense strategically" as the threat of Al Qaeda still exists in Afghanistan.
"Does the president seek to replicate his mistakes in Iraq where he abandoned the region to chaos and failed to forge a real security partnership?" US news website Politico quoted McKeon as saying.
American troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011 after the US and Iraq failed to reach a security agreement to keep a small number of American force in the country. Since then, Iraq has seen a resurgence of violence.