الرئيسية
By DEB RIECHMANN and SLOBODAN LEKIC, AP
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Drawdown plans announced by the
U.S. and more than a dozen other nations will shrink the foreign
military footprint in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops at the close of next
year, leaving Afghan forces increasingly on the frontlines of the
decade-long war.
The United States is pulling out the most —
33,000 by the end of 2012. That's one-third of 101,000 American troops
who were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of U.S. military presence in
the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.
Others in
the 49-nation coalition have announced withdrawal plans too, while
insisting they are not rushing to leave. Many nations have vowed to keep
troops in Afghanistan to continue training the Afghan police and army
in the years to come. And many have pledged to keep sending aid to the
impoverished country after the international combat mission ends in
2014.
Still, the exit is making Afghans nervous.
They fear
their nation could plunge into civil war once the foreign forces go
home. Their confidence in the Afghan security forces has risen, but they
don't share the U.S.-led coalition's stated belief that the Afghan
soldiers and police will be ready to secure the entire nation in three
years. Others worry the Afghan economy will collapse if foreigners leave
and donors get stingy with aid.
Foreign forces began leaving Afghanistan this year.
About
14,000 foreign troops will withdraw by the end of December, according
to an Associated Press review of more than a dozen nations' drawdown
plans. The United States is pulling out 10,000 service members this
year; Canada withdrew 2,850 combat forces this summer; France and
Britain will each send about 400 home; Poland is recalling 200; and
Denmark and Slovenia are pulling out about 120 combined.
Troop
cutbacks will be deeper next year, when an estimated 26,000 more will
leave. That figure includes 23,000 Americans, 950 Germans, 600 more
French, 500 additional Britons, 400 Poles, 290 Belgians, 156 Spaniards,
100 Swedes and 50 Finns.
Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the
Marine Corps, told the AP that the number of Marines in Helmand province
in southern Afghanistan will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of
those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and
advising Afghan security forces.
Amos declined to discuss the number of Marines expected to leave in 2012.
There are now about 19,400 Marines in Helmand, and that is scheduled to fall to about 18,500 by the end of this year.
"Am I OK with that? The answer is 'yes,'" Amos said. "We can't stay in Afghanistan forever."
"Will it work? I don't know. But I know we'll do our part."
Additional troop cuts or accelerated withdrawals are possible.
Many
other countries, including Hungary and Italy, are finalizing their
withdrawal schedules. Presidential elections in Europe and the European
debt crisis also could speed up the pullout. Australian Prime Minister
Julia Gillard said this week that Australia's training mission could be
completed before the 2014 target date.
Back in June, then-U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that when the Obama administration
begins pulling troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. will resist a rush to
the exists, "and we expect the same from our allies." Gates said it was
critically important that a plan for winding down NATO's combat role by
the end of 2014 did not squander gains made against the Taliban that
were won at great cost in lives and money.
"The more U.S. forces
draw down, the more it gives the green light for our international
partners to also head for the exits," said Jeffrey Dressler, a senior
research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.
"There is a cyclical effect here that is hard to temper once it gets
going."
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings Jr. said the cutbacks
that have been announced will not affect the coalition's ability to
fight the insurgency.
"We are getting more Afghans into the field
and we are transferring more responsibility to them in many areas,"
Cummings said, adding that many leaders of the Taliban, al-Qaida and the
Haqqani militant networks have been captured or killed.
Afghan
security forces started taking the lead in seven areas in July. They
soon will assume responsibility for many more regions as part of a
gradual process that will put Afghans in charge of security across the
nation by the end of 2014.
Some countries are lobbying to start
transition as soon as possible in areas where they have their troops
deployed — so they can go home, said a senior NATO official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss transition. The official insisted
that those desires were not driving decisions on where Afghan troops are
taking the lead.
The official said that because they want to
leave, a number of troop-contributing nations faced with declining
public support at home have started working harder to get their areas
ready to hand off to Afghan forces.
"The big question (after
2014) is if the Afghan security forces can take on an externally based
insurgency with support from the Pakistani security establishment and
all that entails," Dressler said. "I think they will have a real
challenge on their hands if the U.S. and NATO countries do not address
Pakistani sponsorship of these groups."
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Drawdown plans announced by the
U.S. and more than a dozen other nations will shrink the foreign
military footprint in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops at the close of next
year, leaving Afghan forces increasingly on the frontlines of the
decade-long war.
The United States is pulling out the most —
33,000 by the end of 2012. That's one-third of 101,000 American troops
who were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of U.S. military presence in
the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.
Others in
the 49-nation coalition have announced withdrawal plans too, while
insisting they are not rushing to leave. Many nations have vowed to keep
troops in Afghanistan to continue training the Afghan police and army
in the years to come. And many have pledged to keep sending aid to the
impoverished country after the international combat mission ends in
2014.
Still, the exit is making Afghans nervous.
They fear
their nation could plunge into civil war once the foreign forces go
home. Their confidence in the Afghan security forces has risen, but they
don't share the U.S.-led coalition's stated belief that the Afghan
soldiers and police will be ready to secure the entire nation in three
years. Others worry the Afghan economy will collapse if foreigners leave
and donors get stingy with aid.
Foreign forces began leaving Afghanistan this year.
About
14,000 foreign troops will withdraw by the end of December, according
to an Associated Press review of more than a dozen nations' drawdown
plans. The United States is pulling out 10,000 service members this
year; Canada withdrew 2,850 combat forces this summer; France and
Britain will each send about 400 home; Poland is recalling 200; and
Denmark and Slovenia are pulling out about 120 combined.
Troop
cutbacks will be deeper next year, when an estimated 26,000 more will
leave. That figure includes 23,000 Americans, 950 Germans, 600 more
French, 500 additional Britons, 400 Poles, 290 Belgians, 156 Spaniards,
100 Swedes and 50 Finns.
Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the
Marine Corps, told the AP that the number of Marines in Helmand province
in southern Afghanistan will drop "markedly" in 2012, and the role of
those who stay will shift from countering the insurgency to training and
advising Afghan security forces.
Amos declined to discuss the number of Marines expected to leave in 2012.
There are now about 19,400 Marines in Helmand, and that is scheduled to fall to about 18,500 by the end of this year.
"Am I OK with that? The answer is 'yes,'" Amos said. "We can't stay in Afghanistan forever."
"Will it work? I don't know. But I know we'll do our part."
Additional troop cuts or accelerated withdrawals are possible.
Many
other countries, including Hungary and Italy, are finalizing their
withdrawal schedules. Presidential elections in Europe and the European
debt crisis also could speed up the pullout. Australian Prime Minister
Julia Gillard said this week that Australia's training mission could be
completed before the 2014 target date.
Back in June, then-U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that when the Obama administration
begins pulling troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. will resist a rush to
the exists, "and we expect the same from our allies." Gates said it was
critically important that a plan for winding down NATO's combat role by
the end of 2014 did not squander gains made against the Taliban that
were won at great cost in lives and money.
"The more U.S. forces
draw down, the more it gives the green light for our international
partners to also head for the exits," said Jeffrey Dressler, a senior
research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.
"There is a cyclical effect here that is hard to temper once it gets
going."
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings Jr. said the cutbacks
that have been announced will not affect the coalition's ability to
fight the insurgency.
"We are getting more Afghans into the field
and we are transferring more responsibility to them in many areas,"
Cummings said, adding that many leaders of the Taliban, al-Qaida and the
Haqqani militant networks have been captured or killed.
Afghan
security forces started taking the lead in seven areas in July. They
soon will assume responsibility for many more regions as part of a
gradual process that will put Afghans in charge of security across the
nation by the end of 2014.
Some countries are lobbying to start
transition as soon as possible in areas where they have their troops
deployed — so they can go home, said a senior NATO official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss transition. The official insisted
that those desires were not driving decisions on where Afghan troops are
taking the lead.
The official said that because they want to
leave, a number of troop-contributing nations faced with declining
public support at home have started working harder to get their areas
ready to hand off to Afghan forces.
"The big question (after
2014) is if the Afghan security forces can take on an externally based
insurgency with support from the Pakistani security establishment and
all that entails," Dressler said. "I think they will have a real
challenge on their hands if the U.S. and NATO countries do not address
Pakistani sponsorship of these groups."