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Carolyn Kaster/AP/Press Association Images

US to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after end of combat operations

Under the plan announced at the White House, America will gradually withdraw troops until only a small residual force remains.

US FORCES WILL will complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, President Barack Obama has said, unveiling a plan to end America’s longest war.

Underscoring the continuing instability despite a 12-year deployment by US-led NATO combat troops, two Americans were slightly injured in an attack on a US consulate vehicle in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat today.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Obama confirmed that the 32,000-strong US deployment in Afghanistan would be scaled back to around 9,800 by the start of 2015.

Those forces would be halved by the end of 2015 before eventually being scaled back to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance component by the end of 2016.

“We’re finishing the job we started,” Obama said, as he outlined the end of US involvement in a conflict which began when American-led forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and hunt Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

US combat operations would draw to a close at the end of 2014, meaning US troops would no longer patrol Afghan cities, towns or valleys from next year, Obama said.

CNN / YouTube

The drawdown relies on Afghanistan signing a long-delayed Bilateral Security Agreement laying out the terms and conditions of the US military presence in the country after this year.

Afghanistan’s outgoing president Hamid Karzai has refused to sign the agreement, but both of the candidates vying to be his successor in next month’s run-off vote — Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah — have said they will sign the deal.

“So I’m hopeful we can get this done,” Obama said.

‘Afghanistan is not ready’

The announcement was met with dismay by some observers in Afghanistan, where there was a widespread belief that a foreign presence was likely to continue for up to a decade.

“Afghanistan is not ready,” said Mia Gul Wasiq, a security analyst. “If they withdraw irresponsibly, Afghanistan will become like Iraq.

“We have not been able to establish a strong government… the US has not done its job, that was to root out terrorism from Afghanistan. The war and terrorism is still there, their job is not done. So their plan and timetable on paper is not practical.”

AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Afghan men play cards next to an election poster, in March of this year. 

An unidentified guman on a motorcyle fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the US consulate vehicle in Herat, an assault that highlighted the insurgents’ ability to attack high-profile targets.

Obama sharply stepped up the US involvement in Afghanistan after his 2008 election victory, boosting troop numbers there even as he brought the parallel US operation in Iraq to a close.

He also massively increased the number of covert US drone strikes on militant targets in neighbouring Pakistan, and ordered the May 2011 US commando raid that killed bin Laden there.

As he announced the end of US involvement in a conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 2,300 US personnel, Obama said future security would hinge on the Afghans themselves.

“We have to recognise Afghanistan will not be a perfect place,” he said. “And it is not America’s responsibility to make it one. The future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans.”

US troops remaining in Afghanistan after 2014 would be available to train Afghan forces while supporting counter-terrorism operations against Al-Qaeda remnants, Obama said.

‘New chapter’

The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would herald a “new chapter in American foreign policy,” Obama said.

“(It) will allow us to redirect some of the resources saved by ending these wars to respond more nimbly to the changing threat of terrorism,” he said.

“I think Americans have learned that it’s harder to end wars than it is to begin them.”

A NATO spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said Obama’s statement was consistent with plans by the Atlantic alliance for a training and support mission beyond the end of the year.

“I expect NATO defence ministers will discuss the completion of our ISAF combat mission and preparations for the new mission when they meet in Brussels next week,” she said.

Obama made an unannounced visit to US forces in Afghanistan on Sunday, spending four hours at Bagram, one of the secure bases that will house support troops after their combat mission ends.

- © AFP, 2014

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76 Comments
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    Mute Declan Mannix
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:18 PM

    Wonder if this was behind Taylor Swift removing her songs from Spotify last week. Looking for a better deal.

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    Mute Aaron O Connor
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:11 PM

    Adblocker, Youtube and beer. Music sorted.

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    Mute (-_-)✌
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:31 PM

    Remember when MTV cost 9.99 p/m? No, neither do I

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    Mute Liam Coyle
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:43 PM

    That’s not really a valid point. YouTube is also free but features ads….. just as the case has been with television for decades.

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    Mute Aaron
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    Nov 12th 2014, 7:32 PM

    Remember when MTV actually played music? No neither do I….

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    Mute Superguy
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    Nov 12th 2014, 7:16 PM

    I may be wrong but the reason why they launched in Ireland is to have another tax cut on the service… Basing all their European income and funnelling through the Irish base..

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    Mute James Comerford
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:27 PM

    Whats the point in this if someone is paying for Google All Access Music, Which is also owner by google ???

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    Mute Liam Coyle
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:45 PM

    Not everyone will subscribe to Google’s music service so they’ll be counting on more people subscribing to YouTube as it’s a much better known service. They are simple trying to catch a bigger audience.

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    Mute James Comerford
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    Nov 12th 2014, 7:17 PM

    Ah i see the article has been updated 6:30 with more information on google all access inclusion. Well researched :P

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    Mute Dara McGann
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    Nov 12th 2014, 7:10 PM

    It’s great and all but considering how Google has been rolling stuff it on Europe and more specifically Ireland it’s unlikely we’ll see this before the end of 2015

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    Mute Pinel G
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:42 PM

    Google acquired YouTube for 1.65billion… yet Google is probably the first search engine people use to search “YouTube to mp3″. I wonder will YouTube try blocking out these 3rd party websites. i dont see the point in paying for a service ad free,anytime,anywhere when anyone can easily download the song in mp3 format for other websites or just block ads on YouTube. either way its free.

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    Mute Fionn Bohane
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    Nov 12th 2014, 6:58 PM

    How do you block you tube adds?

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    Mute Pants Machine
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    Nov 12th 2014, 8:54 PM

    I dont think they’ll be visual ads, but aural ads merged into the audio stream. Like the radio. So not much ad block can help you with there.

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    Mute Fiona K
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    Nov 12th 2014, 9:00 PM

    Music streaming though means you don’t have to worry about using up memory on your phone. Plus you don’t have to be constantly updating your mp3 device with new music, you just have to stream it. I used to scoff at music streaming until I started using Spotify and found lots of new music through it.

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    Mute Fionn Bohane
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    Nov 12th 2014, 8:56 PM

    Cheers lads

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