© Reuters / Omar Sobhani
Reuters: UK will likely follow the U.S. in cutting Afghanistan troops, minister says
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will likely follow the United States in reducing troop levels in Afghanistan but it will continue to work with its government and the U.S. to protect the country’s security, Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Thursday.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday President Donald Trump would sharply reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January.
Wallace said the Americans were not totally pulling out at this stage, and neither was Britain.
But he said: “I expect if they (the U.S.) are reducing at some stage, we will come down.”
Read more ....
Update #1: UK will likely follow the US in cutting Afghan troops: Minister (Al Jazeera)
Update #2: Britain likely to follow US and cut troops in Afghanistan, but America not completely pulling out yet – UK defence minister (RT)
WNU Editor: I think everyone is going to wait and see what a Biden-Harris administration will be doing when they take over the White House.
4 comments:
Germany's long military mission in Afghanistan
Article by DW critical of the German Mission in Afghanistan.
Das Merkel has no business critiquing Donal d Trump's policy in Afghanistan. As has been pointed out Germany did not go big. They went small and stayed small.
The economic colossus with money to throw around swinging for the dugout not for the fences.
You can borrow that phrase "Swing for the dugout." It is a Merkel specialty.
German politicians parked their asses in Kunduz purposefully as it was deemed the safest area in Afghanistan to patrol. And there they sat.
You would think that Les Aspin rose from the grave and was the German Defense Minister. Read the article. German soldiers are pissed at schweinhund like Merkel.
The Brits pulled their weight. The other "allieS" not so much. They made an appearance. Their soldiers were there for show and were there to sit and take it, but to hunker down as much as possible so as to not embarrass any politician.
No one really wanted to win. McCain did. His efforts lasted 6 months and had a positive impact in Iraq. Between the McCain-Bush (mostly McCain) surge and the Anbar awakening, we won.
There was a surge in Afghanistan and then it was time to put the pot on simmer and get back to gutting political opponents back home.
Trump is right in getting us out of Afghanistan. No one wants the Afghans or the US to win. Not the Pakistanis and not The Swamp.
Anon (10:42AM),
Well said. There is very little that could be added. If the Brits follow our lead and reduce troop levels, even if Biden wishes to bring those troops back other "allies" are not going to do so. As such, for Biden to recommit to an unpopular military operation would be very bad optics. IMHO much of what Trump and his team are doing now is laying the groundwork for 2022 and 204 for Republicans to win big in those election cycles. If enough obstacles can be laid along the way before Trump leaves office preventing Biden and his team from prosecuting these forever wars as they have been characterized so be it. This would be a good thing and might just force the government to end these once and for all.
A troll likes my post. I must have committed a graver error of logic.
Not sure what the animosity towards me is about. Since we are in agreement, I see no reason for the "troll" insult.
Even if we don't agree on something, I appreciate respectful discussion. If you perceive flaws in my analysis, please point them out and we can discuss.
If you believe your post may be in error because I agree with you, this seems strange. So you don't like me for some reason. I would like to know what I've done to offend you. Of course when addressing anonymous posters it's hard to know who I am addressing.
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