WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has quietly approved guidelines in recent weeks to allow the Pentagon to target Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, broadening previous plans that had limited the military to counterterrorism missions against al-Qaida after this year, U.S. officials said late Friday.
The president’s decisions also allow the military to conduct air support for Afghan operations when needed. Obama issued the guidelines in recent weeks, as the American combat mission in Afghanistan draws to a close, thousands of troops return home, and the military prepares for narrower counterterrorism and training mission for the next two years.
Obama’s moves expand on what had been previously planned for next year. One U.S. official said the military could only go after the Taliban if it posed a threat to American forces or provided direct support to al-Qaida, while the latter could be targeted more indiscriminately.
“To the extent that Taliban members directly threaten the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan or provide direct support to al-Qaida, however, we will take appropriate measures to keep Americans safe,” the official said.
The Taliban’s presence in Afghanistan far exceeds that of al-Qaida, adding significance to Obama’s authorization. The president’s decision came in response to requests from military commanders who wanted troops to be allowed to continue to
battle the Taliban, the U.S. officials said.
The New York Times first reported the new guidelines. Officials confirmed details to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama’s decisions by name.
The decision to expand the military’s authority does not impact the overall number of U.S. troops that will remain in Afghanistan. Earlier this year. Obama ordered the American force presence to be cut to 9,800 by the end of this year, a figure expected to be cut in half by the end of 2015.
The president wants all U.S. troops to be out of Afghanistan a year later, as his presidency draws to a close.
Some of the Obama administration’s planning for the post-2014 mission was slowed by a political stalemate in Afghanistan earlier this year. It took months for the winner of the country’s presidential election to be certified, delaying the signing of a
bilateral security agreement that was necessary in order to keep U.S. forces in the country after December.
In Kabul, officials with the Afghan Defense Ministry declined to comment Saturday, while officials with the presidency could not be reached.
However, Afghan military analyst Jawed Kohistani said the move likely would be welcomed as President Ashraf Ghani’s new administration upon taking office
immediately signed a deal with the U.S. to allow a residual force of 12,000 foreign troops in the country.
“We have heard from many military officers who are involved in direct fighting with the Taliban and other insurgents that still there is a need for more cooperation, there is need for an ongoing U.S. combat mission and there is need for U.S. air support for the Afghan security forces to help them in their fight against the insurgents,” Kohistani said.
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Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
No threat would exist to American troops if no troops were there, right? So, simply withdraw your goon squads from this nation of individuals who hate you and go home, fix something at home for a change, instead of assassinating and torturing innocent people worldwide and ruining their lives. Come to think of it, you are ruining our lives simultaneously, whatta guy! This vapid dolt of a president speaks in circles and tongues with his forked tongue, all lies and cowardice, a non-leader following his CIA daily script.
I have stuck by President Obama through a lot of bizarre behavior and counterproductive choices but this is likely the last straw. I did not elect this man to expand the US war in Afghanistan, especially after trumpeting his role in ending US military involvement there.
No threat would exist in Afghanistan but you’re fooling yourself if you think us all together leaving would remove any threat all together. Your tin foil hat does have a hole in it because some logic is seeping in when you say we should focus our energy and money here and fix our own house for a change.
This President is still cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor, something will take another decade if we’re lucky, unfortunately the reason the ship hasn’t turned completely around from our war mongering ways is due to Conservatives, regardless of party affiliation or where they work (Congress, media, think tanks, etc.).
Did you read anything other than the misleading TPM headline? Obama’s “expansion” of the combat role is to allow airstrikes after everyone leaves. Troop levels will be under 10,000 by the end of this year, half that by the end of 2015 and to zero when Obama leaves office. Seriously, do you know how many missions US pilots flew in order to maintain the No-Fly Zone in Iraq from 1992 to the start of the Iraq War in 2003? It is well over 200,000. We have always done this, Obama is returning to the old normal. Now, the old normal is still plenty of war to turn a stomach, but it still better than full on fucking invasions. And if you had actually listened to anything Obama said during his campaigns or his time in office, you wouldn’t be surprised at all that he is doing this. He never said he was anti-war, he said he was against “dumb wars.” Now, a person might fault Obama for not being anti-war, but a person can’t fault Obama for going back on his word.
The only thing that is clear in your otherwise unintelligible rant is your distaste for Barack Obama. In fact, I can’t tell from what you’ve written if you oppose or support the decision, whether you believe this is nothing to report, or whether you simply oppose Obama in general. I’m guessing it’s the latter, and I’m happy to say I don’t share your bias, and that I choose to judge the man on each respective decision, not on facts as pointless as “how many missions US pilots flew in order to maintain the No-Fly Zone in Iraq from 1992 to the start of the Iraq War in 2003.” Extending troop commitments in Afghanistan beyond 2014 is a direct contravention of a standing US policy. (Anyone still whining about campaign promises six years into a man’s term of office has issues I can’t even begin to describe.) And for the record, with which you seem more than a bit obsessed, I initially read about this decision in today’s NY Times, where it is a two-column first lead and quite a bit more detailed than the TPM article.
From the Times: “Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year, according to several administration, military and congressional officials with knowledge of the decision. The new authorization also allows American jets, bombers and drones to support Afghan troops on combat missions.” (Emphasis mine to clarify that this decision does not merely specify airstrikes.)
Given that the Taliban insurgency has escalated since 2012 when the Pentagon began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, and given that the Taliban enjoys the sympathy of anywhere from one-third to one-half of the Afghan population and now controls much of the frontier territory of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, this directive from Obama about carrying out missions specifically against the Taliban is as open-ended as anything up to and including an actual invasion. Closing down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was the primary reason Barack Obama was elected President. This nation was, and is, tired of fruitless, expensive wars when people at home are suffering and being told there’s no money for social services. The President has just committed billions of US dollars to expand an area of war most people rightfully believed was quickly fading away. This is no small announcement, despite your claim that it is BAU.