Donald Trump to slash troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan

Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to cut US troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq just five days before Joe Biden is sworn in.

US President Donald Trump speaks to troops during a surprise Thanksgiving day visit at Bagram Air Field, in 2019 in Afghanistan.

Donald Trump will halve the number of US troops in Afghanistan before he leaves office and will also cut troops levels in Iraq as part of his pledge to bring more US soldiers home from “forever wars”.

The move to reduce US troops numbers in Afghanistan from 5000 to 2500 and in Iraq from 3000 to 2500 by mid-January steers a middle ground between the advice of the President’s generals and his desire to bring all the troops home.

The Acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller said the move was “owed” to the American soldiers who had served and sacrificed over so many years in both countries.

“We owe this moment to the many patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice and our comrades who carry forward their legacy,” he said at the Pentagon. “Together, we have mourned the loss of more than 6,900 American troops who gave their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we will never forget the more than 52,000 who bear the wounds of war, and all those who still carry its scars — visible and invisible.”

Mr Trump has long promised to bring all troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq, but Pentagon chiefs have cautioned a full or hasty withdrawal, fearing it could spark renewed violence and instability.

Pentagon chiefs have also been concerned that an early withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan could undermine negotiations for a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan Government.

Former Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who was sacked by the president early this month, had warned the White House against reducing troop numbers in Afghanistan.

Mr Esper said the move could lead the Taliban to renew attacks and could threaten those troops remaining.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also warned against the early withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

“A rapid withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan now would hurt our allies and delight the people who wish us harm,’ he told the Senate this week. “The consequences of a premature American exit would likely be even worse than President Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq back in 2011, which fuelled the rise of ISIS and a new round of global terrorism,’ he said.

But Mr Miller said the US would swiftly punish any groups who took the opportunity of troop withdrawal to cause trouble in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

US army officers with the 101st Airborne Division at Combat Outpost Terra Nova on the outskirts of the Arghandab Valley's Jellawar village.

“If the forces of terror, instability, division and hate begin a deliberate campaign to disrupt our efforts, we stand ready to apply the capabilities required to thwart them,” he said.

“And we will all execute this repositioning in a way that protects our fighting men and women, our partners in the intelligence community, our diplomatic corps, and our superb allies.”

He said it was Mr Trump’s “hope” that all remaining troops in Afghanistan and Iraq would come home by May, although that will be a decision for the incoming president Joe Biden.

Mr Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said the drawdown did not mean a change in US policy.

“By May, it is President Trump’s hope that they will all come home safely and in their entirety. I want to reiterate that this policy is not new. This has been the president’s policy since he took office,” he said.

Republican Senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham, who has opposed the withdrawal of troops, said he appreciated that the president would not bring all of the troops home at once.

He said the semi-drawdown probably reflected Mr Trump’s desire to carry out more of his campaign promise to bring troops home.

“I think so. I think a lot of it’s that (to honour his campaign promise). Obama had that same desire,” he said.”I do appreciate the president not going to zero. It would become Saigon.”

(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)