Afghanistan Times
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The US has reduced the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 2,500. This is as part of outgoing U.S. President, Donald Trump’s plan as to what he describes, “Ending the endless war”. The plan has been functionalized despite a congressional prohibition of the move and rising levels of violence in Afghanistan. This drawdown brings U.S. forces to their lowest levels since 2001. US military brass welcomed the move, believing they are closer to ending nearly two decades of war and the Afghans achieved a political settlement and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire via an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process. However, Washington worked alongside its NATO allies and partners to continue to execute both counterterrorism missions and the train, advice and assist mission in support of Afghan security forces working to secure peace in the country. Mr. Trump in his last days at office met his goal to reduce the number of soldiers. Last February, his administration inked a deal with the Taliban, and it’s just the beginning as it has been agreed to go to zero by May 2021. Although it is not clear how the new administration led by Joe Biden will proceed, if he put steps into Trump’s shoes, there will be no U.S. troops in the country within four months. But Biden once said he will keep a small counterterrorism force as a way to ensure that armed groups like al-Qaeda are unable to launch attacks on the United States. Indeed, foreign troops have to go one day. Having foreign troops is not a pride, but it is a need. There are many concerns at the moment because the peace talks are yet to give a tangible result, and there is caution against speedy troop reduction. Violence waged by the Taliban, have also been increased unprecedentedly. There is no reduction in violence as well, and more importantly, the al-Qaeda terrorist network is still alive and active. Moreover, the U.S. and Taliban both have accused each other of violating peace deal commitments. With such a scene on the ground, it’s required to have patients and stop from hasty drawdown for the sake of world’s security. The main reason for their stay is a panorama of continued high levels of the Taliban violence. The wisdom of fully withdrawing when the violence is very high, could jeopardize the security situation of the regional countries and beyond to an unparalleled height. We are not asking for more troops, but what we need is a guarantee to stop the deadly string of bloodbath, assassination, and targeted killings across Afghanistan. We want this current war to be fully stopped, and to achieve that we are in absolute need of the international community.
