[Politico] The White House is turning up the pressure on the Pentagon to carry out President Donald Trump’s directive of a further withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, as the commander in chief looks to deliver on a campaign pledge ahead of next month’s election.
National security adviser Robert O’Brien said that the Pentagon is "executing" a White House order to reduce the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year, brushing aside comments by the nation’s top military officer that have cast doubt on the new directive.
"We have a plan that’s been in place for some time going to 4,500 by this month, and being somewhere around 2,500 to 2,800 in early 2021," O’Brien said Tuesday in an interview as he traveled back to the U.S. following meetings in Brazil. While he noted that the drawdown is "conditions-based," he stressed that "that’s where the president wants to be ... that’s what the Pentagon is executing."
The comments mark the latest in an unusually public back-and-forth between O’Brien and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who told NPR last week that reductions beyond the near-term 4,500 number must be made based on the security situation in the country and that O’Brien was engaging in "speculation" by discussing specifics beyond that. |