President Barack Obama said US troop levels in Afghanistan will be cut to 8400 from 9800 today and stay at 8400 through the end of his administration,not be reduced to 5500 by the end of 2016 as he had originally planned.The situation is still precarious,Mr.Obama explained,so it is in our national security interest,especially after all the blood and treasure we've invested over the years,that we give our Afghan partners the best chance to succeed.*
US Forces entered Afghanistan immediately following the 9-11 attacks.Today they implement both training of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces and counterterror operations in the Operation Freedom's Sentinel part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission.Other NATO Allies keep around 6,000 troops in Afghanistan for the training mission and say they will remain there.While the ANDSF still lack adequate aviation,intelligence and logistics,according to US Army General John Nicholson's 90-day review,the Taliban Islamist extremist militants continue to control swaths of the country in its north and its south and conduct suicide bombings in the country's cities,including the capital Kabul.Thus the President has accepted the recommendation of new NATO and US commander in Afghanistan General Nicholson to sustain a robust US presence there.Since the US entered the Afghan War in 2001,more than 2300 US troops have been killed in it.Last month,the President permitted the US cadre to expand its operations by directly hitting the Taliban with airstrikes again,not just al-Qaida and the Haqqani Network,and not just when US and partner forces are directly threatened or an Afghan position is in danger of being overrun.This new authority has already been used,a senior US official indicated.
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