President Obama to expand US military role in Afghanistan
The President will not meet his promise to withdraw the military entirely from Afghanistan by the end of his time in office
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Barack Obama will not keep his promise to end US involvement in Afghanistan by the end of his presidency, officials said, and will announce a halt to the withdrawal of American troops on Thursday morning.
After warnings from military leaders that a resurgent Taliban would take advantage of a complete US withdrawal, Mr Obama will say that 5,500 troops are to be kept on in the region after 2017.
The President had originally said a gradual pull-out would leave just a small, embassy-based military presence in Afghanistan by the time he leaves office at the end of next year.
But he now plans to maintain the current force of 9,800 troops in the country throughout most of 2016 before reducing it by less than half in 2017.
Mr Obama was expected to address reporters from the White House on Thursday morning – but the announcement of a policy shift has been previewed for weeks in official comments.
On Wednesday night, the US defence secretary Ash Carter said during a speech at the Association of the US Army: “The narrative that we're leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating. We're not, we can't and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we've had to date.”
Unnamed officials told the Associated Press that the withdrawal had been under review for months, influenced by a complicated set of factors including the newfound support of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and concerns about Isis fighters moving in to the country.
Mr Obama’s decision to keep the US military in Afghanistan beyond his tenure has major ramifications for the 2016 presidential race. The next president will become the third US commander-in-chief faced with the prospect of trying to bring the conflict to a close.
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