{"id":13538,"date":"2020-10-21T19:55:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T19:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/21\/nato-chief-says-conditions-will-determine-alliances-afghanistan-exit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:38:44","slug":"nato-chief-says-conditions-will-determine-alliances-afghanistan-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/10\/21\/nato-chief-says-conditions-will-determine-alliances-afghanistan-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO chief says conditions will determine alliance\u2019s Afghanistan exit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BRUSSELS \u2014 As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/19\/distressingly-high-levels-of-violence-threatens-afghan-peace-process-says-us-envoy\/\" target=_blank>rising violence<\/a> threatens to derail Afghan peace talks, the head of NATO said Wednesday that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2020\/10\/16\/national-security-advisor-despite-trump-tweet-afghanistan-christmas-withdrawal-unlikely\/\" target=_blank>the military alliance will not leave Afghanistan<\/a> until security conditions allow, even as some U.S. troops might be hoping to be back home in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will make a decision together, coordinate our efforts based on the principle \u2018in together, adjust together, and when the time is right, when the conditions are met, then we will leave together,\u2019 but not before,\u201d NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Donald Trump tweeted on Oct. 7 that \u201cwe should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas.\u201d The U.S. armed forces were blindsided by the claim, as were NATO allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/21\/top-us-general-in-afghanistan-says-hes-holding-back-to-give-taliban-peace-deal-a-chance\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Scott-miller-tooled-out.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Top US general in Afghanistan says he\u2019s holding back to give Taliban peace deal a chance<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Army Gen. Scott Miller told the BBC that the U.S. is showing restraint in order to support the Taliban peace process.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO has led international security efforts in Afghanistan since 2003; two years after a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban movement for harboring former al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. Around 12,000 troops from 38 countries are now working in Afghanistan to train, mentor and assist the national security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Americans often make up at least half of the troops participating in the mission, dubbed Resolute Support. Around 8,000 U.S. troops were involved as recently as August. NATO allies and their partners rely on U.S. air power, transport, logistics and medical assistance to operate. It\u2019s unlikely that the mission could function without significant U.S. help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Diplomats and military officers are concerned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/08\/taliban-cheer-trump-tweet-promising-early-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan\/\" target=_blank>setting a definitive date on any troop withdrawal <\/a>from Afghanistan could hamper efforts to secure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/18\/after-more-than-40-years-of-conflict-afghans-say-preventing-next-war-as-vital-as-ending-this-one\/\" target=_blank>a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/11\/milley-ducks-endorsement-of-trumps-afghanistan-exit-timeline\/\" target=_blank>Confusion about troops movements<\/a> in what is America\u2019s longest war and NATO\u2019s biggest and most challenging operation ever is also an extremely sensitive issue for the military personnel involved and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Trump\u2019s national security adviser said the number of U.S. troops would shrink to 2,500 early next year. He suggested that Trump\u2019s tweet that all forces should be home by Christmas was more a wish than reality. U.S. commanders say the plan is to reduce the U.S. presence to 4,500 by November.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/10\/16\/national-security-advisor-despite-trump-tweet-afghanistan-christmas-withdrawal-unlikely\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"155\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ASN-Main.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">National security adviser: Despite Trump tweet, Afghanistan Christmas withdrawal unlikely<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">&quot;When I\u2019m speaking, I\u2019m speaking for the president,&quot; Robert O&#039;Brien said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO diplomats expect troops to still be in Afghanistan until at least the middle of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan warned that \u201cdistressingly high\u201d levels of violence, notably in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province. threaten to derail peace talks being held in the Qatari capital, Doha,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Taliban must live up to their commitments, significantly reduce the levels of violence, and pave the way for a ceasefire. They must break all ties with al-Qaeda and other international terrorist groups. And they must negotiate in good faith,\u201d Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the peace talks \u201coffer the best chance for peace in a generation. They must preserve the gains made at such high price over the last two decades, including for women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. and NATO allies were blindsided by President Donald Trump&#8217;s Oct. 7 tweet stating that American troops in Afghanistan would be home by Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,25,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1733],"class_list":["post-13538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MRFBBZI3JNELDMXFV5QOZI2GMA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/21\/nato-chief-says-conditions-will-determine-alliances-afghanistan-exit\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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