SULAIMANI (ESTA) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned of a “high price” if Western allies pull troops out of Afghanistan too quickly, saying it could allow Islamic State (ISIS) militants to regroup.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made ending the 19-year-old American engagement in Afghanistan a priority by Christmas, but while many NATO allies also want to leave the country, many feel it could be reckless given militant violence plaguing Afghanistan.
“We now face a difficult decision. We have been in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and no NATO ally wants to stay any longer than necessary. But at the same time, the price for leaving too soon or in an uncoordinated way could be very high,” Stoltenberg said in a statement.
“Afghanistan risks becoming once again a platform for international terrorists to plan and organize attacks on our homelands. And ISIS could rebuild in Afghanistan the terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq,” he added.
NATO has fewer than 12,000 troops from dozens of nations helping to train and advise the Afghan national security forces. The 30-nation alliance relies heavily on the United States armed forces for transport, logistics and other support.
U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said on Tuesday that the United States would reduce troop levels in Afghanistan from more than 4,500 to 2,500 and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500.
The announcement came 10 days after U.S. President Donald Trump fired defense secretary Mark Esper, who had insisted on the need to keep 4,500 troops in Afghanistan to support the Kabul government while it negotiates a peace deal with the Taliban insurgents, AFP reported.
U.S. troops had already been cut by nearly two-thirds from about 13,000 this year, following the February 29 peace deal between the United States and the Taliban.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned against the United States undertaking any quick changes in American defense or foreign policy, including toward Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It is extremely important here in the next couple of months not to have any earthshaking changes in regard to defense or for policy,” McConnell told reporters, according to Reuters.
“Precipitous drawdown [of U.S. troops] in Afghanistan or Iraq would be a mistake,” he added.
