U.S. President Barack Obama says... American troops will remain in Afghanistan for the time being... to assist with an increasingly fragile security situation there.
Sohn Jung－in looks into this major policy U－turn.
U.S. President Barack Obama has announced his decision to shift from his earlier pledges to end America′s longest war... on his watch.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday， Obama said the U.S. will maintain its current force of 98－hundred troops in Afghanistan through next year and draw down to 55－hundred when he leaves office in January 2017.
Obama emphasized that the mission remains the same.
″Their mission will not change. Our troops will continue to pursue those two narrow tasks that I outlined earlier： training Afghan forces and going after al Qaeda.″
The administration had previously planned to withdraw all U.S. military forces by the end of next year， leaving behind only a small group of embassy－based troops in Kabul.
But after months of deliberations with his advisers and Afghanistan′s leaders， Obama said they decided to postpone the draw－down because Afghan troops were still not strong enough to beat back a resurgent Taliban and other opposition forces.
″The bottom line is， in key areas of the country， the security situation is still very fragile， and in some places， there′s risk of deterioration.
This marks the second delay this year.
Critics have slammed Obama for entering the White House with a pledge to bring home American troops from two major wars， but instead leaving with U.S. forces engaged in three ongoing conflicts，.... in Syria， Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sohn Jung－in， Arirang News.
