Another page for the legacy of Obama.
CAMP SHORAB, Afghanistan — The last time the U.S.-led coalition brought a group of journalists here to Helmand province was in October 2014 to document the withdrawal of American and British troops, on a trip designed to signal that U.S. involvement in the war really was ending.
This week, coalition officials brought journalists back, as a way of saying, “Never mind” – and to make the case that the United States may want to consider staying on.
After what was supposed to be a withdrawal from one of Afghanistan’s most restive provinces, about 500 soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division rushed back into Helmand in February. The Afghan army, left on its own, had failed to live up to expectations. Now, once again, U.S. forces are in place, trying to toughen up a force that remains too timid.
“Every day we come out here, we talk about focus on killing the enemy,” said Capt. Tylor Bott, who is helping to lead the training of Afghan soldiers here on base.
Bott’s blunt assessment of the task at hand reflects a broader shift in how the U.S.-led coalition has begun framing what is at stake, as the Taliban’s annual spring offensive is set to begin and uncertainty remains over the future American commitment to the war.
Though President Barack Obama has slowed down the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, administration plans still call for cutting troop numbers in half by January.
If they fall that far, training missions such as the one being carried out by the 10th Mountain Division will almost certainly end, as U.S. forces pull back toward a central base in Kabul. The U.S. counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, focused on disrupting efforts by the Islamic State and al-Qaida to broaden footholds here, could also be curtailed.