President Barack Obama’s decision to keep troops in Afghanistan through the end of his term is a sign his strategy is “working,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday.
“The fact that the president wants to expand those operations and continue that strategy is actually an indication that it’s working and that we’re seeing progress,” Earnest told reporters following Obama’s press conference.
“If the president had come out today and announced a dramatic change to our policy, I think you would have a stronger argument to make in questioning whether we’re seeing the kind of progress we’d like to see.”
Obama had planned to withdraw the 9,800 remaining troops in Afghanistan through 2016, leaving just 1,000 at the U.S. embassy when he leaves office. But he announced Thursday he’ll keep 5,500 troops in Afghanistan through the end of his term.
The decision means Obama won’t keep his campaign promise to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by the end of his presidency. It follows a wave of violence, including a temporary takeover of Kunduz by the Taliban last month, and increasing concern from Obama’s top advisers and U.S. military commanders about Afghanistan’s ability to fend for itself.
Obama said the objective of training and assisting the Afghan military and conducting counterterror operations remains the same, but a reporter asked White House officials on the call whether those objectives could be met in the next few years, since the last 14 weren’t enough.
“I would not agree with the premise,” Deputy National Security Adviser Lisa Monaco replied. “I don’t think anyone ever intended that the job, so to speak, would be finished.”
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