O slows Afghan pullout

Leaving 8,400 troops

WASHINGTON — The United States will slow the pace of its troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, leaving 8,400 troops there when President Obama completes his term on Jan. 20 — a blunt acknowledgment that scaling back American involvement has failed.

In a statement at the White House, Obama said the security situation in Afghanistan remains “precarious” and the Taliban remains a threat roughly 15 years after the United States invaded the country in the aftermath of 9/11.

He said he was committed not to allow Afghanistan to be used “as a safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again.”

“It is in our national-security interest — especially after all the blood and treasure we’ve invested in Afghanistan over the years — that we give our Afghan partners the very best opportunity to succeed,” said Obama, flanked by top military leaders.

There are currently about 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan.

Obama had planned to pull that back to 5,500 by year’s end, but a Taliban resurgence and the Afghan military’s continuing struggles have led Washington to rethink its exit strategy.

The numbers reflect a compromise between Obama’s original plan and what many military commanders had recommended: keeping the 9,800 troops now there.

Last month, a group of more than a dozen former US ambassadors and commanders in Afghanistan urged the president to “freeze” the current level and let the next president make adjustments.

Yet Obama, who had hoped to leave office with the nation disentangled from Afghanistan, appeared to settle on a number that would show continued progress toward withdrawing without jeopardizing the mission.

Last month, the Pentagon said in a report to Congress that as Afghan battlefield deaths continued to rise and civilian casualties hit a record high, Afghans were feeling less secure than at any recent time.

Obama has been under pressure from US allies to make a decision following a NATO announcement last month that the alliance would maintain troops in regional locations around Afghanistan.

The president said boosting the planned troop levels would help other countries prepare their own contribution to the fight.

“I firmly believe the decision I’m announcing is the right thing to do,” he said.