Esper wants troop cut with or without peace deal

KABUL.  

Austin Miller, the head of the NATO mission and US forces in Afghanistan, was confident the number of American troops could be reduced, he was quoted as saying by AFP.

Miller believed he could conduct important counter-terrorism missions and train the Afghan army, Esper told reporters as he flew back from Belgium.

“I want to either bring those troops home to retrain for new missions or redeployment to the Indo-Pacific to face off our greatest challenge in terms of the great power competition that’s vis-a-vis China.”

A political agreement between the government and the Taliban was the best solution for Afghanistan, Esper believed.

“I think we can go down with or without that political agreement,” the Pentagon chief remarked, explaining a decision was the responsibility of President Donald Trump.

PAN Monitor/mud

Views: 1