{"id":14843,"date":"2021-04-14T20:44:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T20:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/14\/secdef-hints-at-lingering-us-involvement-with-afghanistan-after-withdrawal\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:27:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:27:36","slug":"secdef-hints-at-lingering-us-involvement-with-afghanistan-after-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/14\/secdef-hints-at-lingering-us-involvement-with-afghanistan-after-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"SECDEF hints at lingering US involvement with Afghanistan after withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The remaining 2,500 troops<\/a> are set to pull out of Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of 9\/11<\/a>, but U.S. support to that country\u2019s military is likely to endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the Afghan government and its military\/police organizations will be responsible for keeping the peace, that may continue to be at U.S. expense<\/a>, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a NATO press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will look to continue funding key capabilities, such as the Afghan air force and Special Mission Wing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we will seek to continue paying salaries for Afghan security forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may also continue to be a U.S. counter-terrorism presence \u201cin the region,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ll understand why I won\u2019t get into specific details about where our counterterrorist assets may be positioned,\u201d he said when asked how many troops that might be and where they would be based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to training, advising and assisting Afghan forces, U.S. troops have been deploying to the country to tamp down on terrorist presence, whether that\u2019s lingering al-Qaida influence or the persistent threat of ISIS-K, the Afghanistan wing of the Islamic State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mission will continue, if not from within Afghanistan. The U.S. has the ability to target within the country from outside of it, Austin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur troops have accomplished the mission that they were sent to Afghanistan to accomplish,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they have much for which to be proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That mission was to run al-Qaida out of Afghanistan and prevent it from becoming a terrorist safe haven and training ground once again. Officials have said there will be consequences for the Taliban if they revert to harboring extremist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the draw and expecting a different result,\u201d Biden said during his address Wednesday. \u201cI\u2019m now the fourth United States president to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan \u2026 I will not pass this responsibility on to a fifth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 2,500 troops have been killed and more than 20,000 wounded since the first Special Forces units landed in the country in October 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\t