President Obama plans to leave a residual force of 9,800 service members in Afghanistan past 2014, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. By 2016, most troops will be out of the country.
Obama will make the announcement and talk about the end to America's longest-running war this afternoon.
"He will announce that our combat mission will be over by the end of 2014. 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 operations against the remnants of al Qaeda," the official said. "We will only sustain a military presence after 2014 if the Afghan government signs the Bilateral Security Agreement."
That bilateral agreement has been elusive for the United States, because Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reneged several times. Just this February, Obama had asked the Pentagon to draw up plans to have all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by the end of the year.
During a speech at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan over the weekend, Obama said he was hopeful a new president in Afghanistan would lead to a signed security agreement.
That number — 9,800 — is more in line with what military officials had asked for. Back in January, Vice President Joe Biden was advocating for a smaller force in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 troops. The Wall Street Journal reported that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel supported military recommendations of a residual force of more than 9,000.
The senior administration officials says the residual force of 9,800 will be in place at the beginning of 2015, "assuming a BSA is signed."
By the end of 2015, that number would be reduced by half, consolidating "U.S. troops in Kabul and on Bagram Airfield." By the end of 2016, the only service members left in Afghanistan will serve as a security assistance force for the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
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