#AFGHANISTAN DRAWDOWN PROFESSIONAL#
Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. This commentary originally appeared on Lawfare on July 5, 2015. special operations forces in Afghanistan. Both have served as advisors embedded with U.S. Sean Mann is a research assistant at RAND. Stephen Watts is a senior political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and an adjunct assistant professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. The remainder of this commentary is available on. annually provides to Israel and what it provided to Colombia from 2001 to 2010 (i.e., somewhere between US$1–3 billion annually after 2016). troops than the 3,500 that are currently authorized for Iraq and assistance at levels between what the U.S. support at lower levels for an extended period of time-likely involving fewer U.S. But Afghanistan does deserve continued U.S. domestic politics allow decisionmakers to write one even if they wanted to. So even with the surge in Afghanistan, the total number of U.S. The final tranche of the drawdown to reach the President’s commitment to end combat operations began in earnest in June 2010. domestic politics will not endure a continued, large-scale commitment to Afghanistan.Īfghanistan does not deserve a blank check, nor will U.S. General Odierno made the decision in May 2010 that positive developments in the security sector permitted the drawdown to go forward as planned. And finally, there is a broad sense that U.S. Second, with “core al Qaeda” in Afghanistan and Pakistan heavily degraded and new terrorist threats emerging throughout the Middle East and beyond, many observers believe that scarce U.S.
![afghanistan drawdown afghanistan drawdown](https://media.defense.gov/2014/Oct/02/2001104158/1280/1280/0/564287-X-UEL10-956.jpg)
First, many are disappointed by what the interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have accomplished and believe that little more is likely to be accomplished after so many years of shortcomings. Proponents of rapid withdrawal generally make one or more of three arguments. Some thought the withdrawal should proceed even more quickly. forces (aside from a small advisory presence) by the end of 2016. Three-quarters of Americans in another poll agreed with President Obama's decision to withdraw all U.S. In 2014-for the first time since the 9/11 attacks- roughly half of Americans polled by Gallup thought that the United States should never have sent troops to Afghanistan.
![afghanistan drawdown afghanistan drawdown](https://www.ksn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/06/665397c10a954cc596d4ab8b8dcd8983.jpg)
policy circles and among Americans in general. With the wars in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen dominating headlines, Afghanistan appears to have gotten lost in the shuffle.