According to two congressional aides, President Joe Biden plans to announce his decision to withdraw all of the troops stationed in Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, also made his first trip to the country a few weeks ago where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and U.S. military officials.
Officially, there are 2,500 troops still deployed in Afghanistan, American Military News reported the Pentagon failed to disclose 1,000 additional troops stationed in the country bringing the total estimate to 3,500.
The Washington Post first broke the story, and Politico speculates the withdrawal will lead to more/renewed attacks on American forces.
Biden is also expected to stay in the country after the May 1 deadline set forth by former President Donald Trump’s peace-treaty with the Taliban.
A source to the Post, “This is the immediate, practical reality that our policy review discovered. If we break the May 1st deadline negotiated by the previous administration with no clear plan to exit, we will be back at war with the Taliban, and that was not something President Biden believed was in the national interest.”
