New Afghanistan war drawdown strategy? Move troops, don't withdraw them.
| Washington
Much has been made of President Obama鈥檚 announcement that he will begin a US troop drawdown from Afghanistan in July 2011. But on Tuesday, military officials signaled that they will continue to seek leeway in how, precisely, to define 鈥渄rawdown.鈥�
Rather than sending soldiers back home, for example, commanders may give troops new jobs in the war-torn country, such as training Afghan security forces, according to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Or they may simply reposition troops in more troubled regions, he told reporters this morning.
Back in June, Mr. Obama seemed to step back from July 2011 as a hard-and-fast withdrawal date for US troops, pushing instead the idea that the date should be considered a goal for US troops to begin handing security responsibility over to Afghan forces.
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Tuesday, as Mr. Rasmussen arrived in Washington to meet with Obama in advance of a November NATO summit, the NATO Secretary General seemed to take this idea a step further, that even 鈥渋f we transition a province here and there,鈥� soldiers in the area 鈥渃annot just leave Afghanistan.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, Rasmussen introduced a term that is likely to begin cropping up among Pentagon officials in the months ahead: "transition dividend."
鈥淵ou may very well see that what you might call a 鈥榯ransition dividend鈥� will be reinvested in other areas,鈥� Rasmussen explains. Troops 鈥渕ight be needed in other regions.鈥� Or, he says, they could be used to bolster training of Afghan police and soldiers. In short, he notes, 鈥淭ransition doesn鈥檛 mean exit.鈥�
US military officials have gone on the record noting that while they support President Obama鈥檚 announcement of a July 2011 drawdown date, it was not their idea. During a July Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona asked US commander Gen. David Petraeus whether 鈥渢here was a recommendation from you or anyone in the military that we set a date of July 2011?鈥� Petraeus responded, 鈥淭here was not.鈥�
In months that followed the announcement, the Obama administration 鈥渉as given itself an enormous amount of wiggle room鈥� regarding the drawdown size and scope, says Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has advised US commanders in Afghanistan. 鈥淭hey have been keeping their options open.鈥�
Petreaus is now slated to get 2,000 troops to train Afghan security forces in addition to the surge of 30,000 US forces largely in place as of last week. These 2,000 new troops may draw from other International Security Assistance Force member countries, but the bulk of them are expected to come from the United States. 鈥淭here is no contradiction between a request for more trainers and a gradual transition鈥� to Afghan security force control, Rasmussen told reporters.
The key, he says, is that the transition be 鈥渋rreversible.鈥� That鈥檚 because ISAF troops 鈥渨on鈥檛 be in position to take control back once we hand it over. That,鈥� he adds, 鈥渨ould be a disaster.鈥�
