By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2015 – President Barack Obama has
extended troop levels in Afghanistan several months beyond the original
drawdown plan to help Afghan security forces succeed during the upcoming
fighting season.
During a news conference yesterday after meeting with Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Obama took the
podium with Ghani and announced several areas in which the United States would
continue to support the nation’s strategic partnership with Afghanistan.
“First,” Obama said, “we agreed to continue to keep in place
our close security cooperation. Afghanistan remains a very dangerous place and
insurgents still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against
civilians.”
The president said Ghani is pursuing reforms to further
strengthen Afghan security forces, including respect for human rights. And as
part of the ongoing NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, the
United States will continue to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces.
Continued Support for Afghanistan
The administration also will work with Congress on funding
to sustain 352,000 Afghan police and troops through 2017, Obama said. “At the
same time, we'll continue to conduct targeted counterterrorism operations,” he
added. And he and Ghani agreed to maintain a dialogue on the counterterrorism
partnership in the years ahead, Obama said.
In a decision reached in May between the United States and
Afghanistan, 9,800 U.S. troops would stay in Afghanistan for the Resolute
Support mission until Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2015. Then troop levels
would fall to 5,500 for the rest of the year and most of 2016.
“President Ghani has requested some flexibility on our
drawdown timelines,” Obama said. “I've consulted with [Gen. John F. Campbell,
commander of the Resolute Support mission and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan], and
my national security team and I have decided that we will maintain our current
posture of 9,800 troops through the end of this year.”
A final decision on the drawdown speed in 2016 will be
established later this year, he added.
Moving the Drawdown to the Right
“We're essentially moving the drawdown pace over to the
right for several months, in part to compensate for the lengthy period it took
for government formation,” Obama said, “in part because we want to make sure
that we're doing everything we can to help Afghan security forces succeed … so
we don't have to respond in an emergency because terrorist activities are being
launched out of Afghanistan. We're on the path to do that.”
Continuing his description of areas of U.S. support for
Afghanistan, Obama said support would continue for an Afghan-led reconciliation
process with the Taliban and an outreach effort to Pakistan.
“President Ghani, you've shown bold leadership in reaching
out to Pakistan, which is critical to the pursuit of peace,” Obama said.
“Afghanistan and the United States agree on what the Taliban must do, which is
break with Al Qaida, renounce violence and abide by Afghan laws, including the
protections for women and minorities.”
Serving All of the Afghan People
The United States also will continue to do the following,
Obama said:
-- Support the national unity government in its efforts to
serve all the Afghan people;
-- Be Afghanistan’s partner in advancing the rights and
dignity of all Afghans, including women and girls; and
-- Support the development that underpins stability and
improves the lives of the Afghan people.
“President Ghani is a leading expert on development, and
I've been impressed by the reforms he's pursuing to make Afghanistan more
self-reliant,” Obama said. “He wants to empower Afghans in these efforts, and
that's why under the new development partnership that we announced yesterday,
U.S. economic assistance will increasingly go through Afghan institutions, in
support of Afghan priorities, with an emphasis on accountability, performance
and achieving results.”
Revitalizing the Partnership
In his remarks, the Afghan president said tragedy brought
Afghanistan and the United States together and common interests now unite the
nations.
“We can assure you that the government of national unity has
revitalized the partnership and looks at this partnership with the United
States as foundational, not just for Afghanistan's stability but for regional
and global stability,” Ghani said.
The flexibility provided by the United States for 2015, he
said, will be used to accelerate reforms and to ensure that the Afghan national
security forces are much better led, equipped and trained, and are focused on
the fundamental mission.
“I'm pleased to say that the departure of 120,000
international troops has not brought about the security gap or the collapse
that was often anticipated,” Ghani said.
Afghanistan’s Embrace of Democracy
Ghani said his country is unique in its embrace of
democracy, and the Afghan people are proud of their Islamic civilization, which
is in dialogue with the world, and they have the capacity to speak truth to
terror.
The terrorists, he added, “do not speak for Islam. We do. It
is the genuine Islam that is interested in dialogue with civilizations, and
cooperation and endeavor forward.”
On regional cooperation, Ghani said his administration has
taken steps to reconcile with the Taliban and reach out to Pakistan.
“We do hope that these steps will be reciprocated because
the threats that exist, the changing ecology of terror, are making it
imperative that all governments cooperate with each other,” he said.
Interconnected World
“Afghanistan is on the front line,” Ghani added. “Because of
American engagement in Afghanistan, there have not been attacks on mainland
United States. But let's not forget that fortresses cannot be built around
countries or continents. We are living in an interconnected world and our
security is joined together.”
Obama noted that Afghanistan and the world are marked by
incredible diversity and differences of history, culture and faiths.
But, he said, “I believe that the progress we've made in
this visit will help advance the goal for which so many of your citizens, Mr.
President, have sacrificed over the years, the goal of making our two countries
and the world safer.”
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