Hagel Says U.S. to Pause Troop Drawdown in Afghanistan - WSJ

On a visit to Afghanistan, Mr. Hagel said the delay in deploying other allied forces caused the U.S. to make plans to pause its drawdown at 10,800 troops. Fewer than 12,000 U.S. troops currently remain in Afghanistan, and Mr. Hagel said President Barack Obama gave the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. John Campbell, flexibility to manage any “temporary force shortfall.”

Mr. Hagel said the more-limited mission of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the long-term timeline for troop reductions over the next two years will remain the same. Defense officials said the U.S. force will shrink to 5,500 in by the end of 2015 and then consolidate to a small contingent in Kabul by the end of the following year.

“That does not change the president’s policy, his commitment on numbers,” Mr. Hagel said. “It doesn’t change any part of what the president’s strategy is.”

Mr. Hagel said he is in the process of finalizing commitments from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries to fill the gap and allow the U.S. forces to draw down to 9,800. “We will have the rest of the last pieces in place over the next few weeks,” Mr. Hagel said.

Asked at joint news conference with Mr. Hagel if he needed more combat support from the U.S., Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said his government was focused first on making better use of resources provided by international forces in Afghanistan. “Having said that, we do have shortages in particular areas,” he said. “We very much hope our forces will have the full capabilities.”

Throughout his time as defense secretary, Mr. Hagel pushed for a continuing troop presence after the end of 2014, when the current combat mission ends. President Barack Obama has approved that plan, but Mr. Hagel’s coming departure from the top job at the Pentagon means managing the new mission will fall to Ashton Carter, nominated on Friday to be the next defense secretary.  Read More