{"id":47339,"date":"2021-01-28T22:11:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T22:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/28\/drawdowns-of-troops-in-germany-and-afghanistan-up-in-the-air\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:30:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:30:33","slug":"drawdowns-of-troops-in-germany-and-afghanistan-up-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2021\/01\/28\/drawdowns-of-troops-in-germany-and-afghanistan-up-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawdowns of troops in Germany and Afghanistan up in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pentagon is still working with a May deadline for a full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan<\/a>, but a Defense Department spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the way ahead<\/a> is unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House under President Donald Trump spent much of 2020 beating the drum for a full withdrawal<\/a> from Afghanistan, which manifested in a reduction from 8,000 early in the year to 2,500 as of Jan. 15. But the Biden administration is revisiting the conditions of that withdrawal, specifically the Taliban\u2019s commitment to making sure the Afghan people have a chance at self-governance, and that the country won\u2019t once again become a terrorism home base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan national security forces \u2015 and by dint of that, the Afghan people \u2015 it\u2019s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement,\u201d Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday. \u201cBut we\u2019re still committed to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is looking for a reasonable settlement <\/a>that would end American presence in Afghanistan, Kirby added, but conditions will have to be met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThus far the Taliban has been, to put it politely, reticent to meet their requirements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2020, the DoD repeated that a withdrawal would be conditional \u2015 based on a reduction in Taliban violence in the country and the group\u2019s cutting ties with al-Qaida \u2015 but as troop levels dwindled from 8,000 to 4,000 in the spring, then down to 2,500 in January, reports remained<\/a> that the Taliban had done neither.<\/p>\n\n\n\t