Visiting Kabul, US Senator Lindsey Graham said on Monday that President Donald Trump could reduce troops in Afghanistan to 8,600.
Currently, there are below 12,000 US troops in Afghanistan, Graham said.
Graham said that the reduction could begin next year and the reason why US was reducing its forces is that the capability of Afghan forces has grown.
“With 8,600 American forces aligned in the right configuration, we would have a very lethal punch that would allow us to continue our goal of making sure that Afghanistan never becomes a launching pad for another attack against the United States homeland,” Graham said. “It would be enough forces in my view to give an edge to the Afghan security forces against the Taliban and other enemies.”
Referring to peace talks with the Taliban who have demanded full US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Graham suggested that it could happen only based on the conditions on the ground, not mere Taliban promises.
“The Taliban cannot be trusted to be our reliable counterterrorism force,” Graham said. “It would be insane for America to rely on the Taliban to ensure that al-Qaeda and ISIS-K doesn’t come back in a way to represent a threat to our allies and the American homeland.”
“The idea that any agreement would count on the Taliban to police, be the counterterrorism force, and protect the American homeland is a nonstarter,” Graham warned. “We will need troops here to do that until conditions change.”
On Pakistan which is accused of providing safe havens to Taliban, Graham said that if the country applied more pressure on the group, it would “enormously helpful in resolving the conflict” in Afghanistan.
Graham met with Afghan government leaders in Kabul after meeting Pakistani officials in Islamabad.
