US 'to expand' 2015 Afghanistan combat role

US troops in Afghanistan will be allowed to target Taliban fighters in Afghanistan from 2015, US officials say, expanding their role after the end of major combat operations.

Guidelines approved by President Barack Obama will also provide air support for Afghan missions, US media report.

The US force in the country is be cut to 9,800 by the end of 2014.

Previous plans had limited their role to training Afghan troops and tackling the remnants of al-Qaeda.

The military will now be allowed to fight the Taliban if the militants "directly threaten the United States and coalition forces" or provide "direct support to al-Qaeda", an unnamed official told US media.

The Associated Press and the New York Times say the change has been quietly decided by President Obama in recent weeks.

Coming home

In September the new Afghan government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, signed a security deal allowing US troops to remain in the country beyond 2014.

Under a separate agreement, a number of Nato members - including Germany, Turkey, Italy - will contribute to a 12,000-strong force that will train and assist Afghanistan's security forces.

The US deployment is due to be reduced by half again by the end of 2015.

Nato - which had about 50,000 troops in Afghanistan in early 2014, mostly from the US - has been steadily withdrawing them, handing over control to local security forces.

Mr Ghani was sworn in as Afghanistan's new president in September, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power.

Mr Karzai had refused to sign the security deal, in part because the US sought immunity from prosecution for its forces.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30157710#

I hate reading this ~ having said that, I know that Obama is working from different information than what is shared with the public ~ and I'm trusting that at least some in Obama's "inner circle" learned something from the Iraq mistakes made ~ time will tell ~

Sooz

The "working from different information than is shared with the public" argument can be, and has been, used in attempts to justify vicious, immoral and criminal actions pretty much forever.

Its the ultimate anti-democratic whitewash.

I know it CAN be misused, CM ~ but it also happens to be the truth ~

Sooz

Yep!

And it was true for Bush and .......

Sorry sooz, I have zero faith in the good intentions or intelligence of US foreign policy no matter which party is in power.

As a president you get points by the voting public for each police action/war you start or continue. It cuts the wuss factor dramatically in public opinion. Something we furrinners just don't understand.

We do. Our idiot PM goes for the tough guy image all the time.

We have the same kind of idiot, CM... well, almost. Our guy likes to hide in closets.

sooz, I hate reading it too. I don't want ANY of our brave men and women to be left in that country after the end of this year. Hell, I thought we should have rolled out of there the same time we did Iraq. Even better, we should never have invaded Iraq and been out of Afghanistan within a year or no later than when Pres Bush declared "Mission Accomplished".

The ONE thing that can be taken away from this was....

Mr Karzai had refused to sign the security deal, in part because the US sought immunity from prosecution for its forces.


This PROVES why we didn't stay in Iraq with a residual force but are doing so in Afghanistan.