WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce a plan to keep a contingency force of 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, according to senior administration and Pentagon officials.
Obama will make the announcement Tuesday afternoon, according to three senior administration officials. The officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, asked not to be identified.
"He will make clear that we are open to continued efforts in Afghanistan on two narrow missions after 2014: training Afghan forces and supporting CT (counterterrorism) operations against the remnants of al-Qaeda," one official said. "We will only sustain a military presence after 2014 if the Afghan government signs the Bilateral Security Agreement."
A senior Pentagon official confirmed the two-pronged mission: training and counterterrorism.
According to Obama's plan, U.S. troop levels would would be reduced by about half, consolidating U.S. troops in Kabul and on Bagram Air Base, by 2015.
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Tue May 27, 2014 12:55 pm
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