NATO to Withdraw 40,000 Troops Next Year, But War is Not Over
Reposted from: http://news.antiwar.com/2011/11/29/nato-to-withdraw-40000-troops-next-year-but-war-is-not-over/
November 30, 2011 @ 12:29 pm
NATO will reduce its troop levels in Afghanistan by 40,000 by the end of 2012, according to the Pentagon, as the overall military presence in the country begins to decrease.
But observers should not be fooled into believing the Obama administration’s 2014 date of full withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. plan has been to maintain a military presence there for the foreseeable future, with numerous officials recognizing considerable troop levels beyond 2014.
In a recent talk at the Council on Foreign Relations, under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense Michèle Flournoy, explained that “2014 is not a withdrawal date—it’s an inflection point.”