Armed Forces News

The U.S. will maintain a larger military presence in Afghanistan longer than the Obama administration had projected. While the target goal of ending the drawdown from Afghanistan by the end of 2016 or early 2017 remains in place, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the sequence of the transition will change. “What the president is talking about is along the lines of about 1,000 troops to … promote military-to-military cooperation and to protect the embassy. That hasn’t changed,” Earnest said. “What is currently under discussion is the pace of the troop drawdown … and the sequencing of base closures between now and then,” he said. “You obviously need the minimum troop level to keep open some bases.” On March 24, Obama announced that the U.S. would keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan this year. He previously indicated he wanted to reduce the U.S. presence of 9,800 troops by half by year’s end, Time magazine reported.