Trump "Complete Withdrawal from Afghanistan by Christmas"

Trump Presents Withdrawal Schedule via Twitter
Controversy Over Aggressive Timeline Ahead of Presidential Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to completely withdraw U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan before this year's Christmas. Previously, the U.S. had set the full withdrawal deadline by mid-next year, but President Trump’s announcement to significantly advance this timeline is expected to spark controversy.

On the 7th (local time), President Trump tweeted, "We must bring home the small number of 'brave men and women' serving in Afghanistan by Christmas."

This means advancing the withdrawal deadline of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan to before December 25 of this year. Earlier, the U.S. had announced plans to withdraw troops by mid-next year.

The U.S. has been engaged in war in Afghanistan for 19 years since invading in 2001. Due to this, the U.S. has been criticized for fighting the longest war in its history in Afghanistan. In this regard, President Trump pledged after the last presidential election to end the Afghanistan war and withdraw U.S. troops.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

However, there is controversy over President Trump’s proposed withdrawal schedule before Christmas. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien revealed plans to first withdraw 2,500 U.S. troops by early next year. In an interview with a media outlet, he said, "When President Trump took office, there were over 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan," adding, "Currently, there are fewer than 5,000, and by next year, 2,500 will have withdrawn."

Because of this, some have pointed out that President Trump’s mention of Christmas and other dates may be an attempt to accelerate the withdrawal plan considering the November election schedule.

In February this year, President Trump reached a historic peace agreement in Doha, Qatar, to end the 18-year-long armed conflict. The Taliban promised that extremist armed groups like Al-Qaeda would not operate in Afghanistan. Based on this agreement, U.S. and NATO international allied forces planned to withdraw in phases.

However, doubts have been raised about whether the U.S. military can actually withdraw as planned. Since last month, the Afghan government and the Taliban have started peace negotiations after difficulties such as prisoner releases, but there has been no clear progress yet.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.