The 33,000 troops Barack Obama sent to Afghanistan as part of the 2009 surge have been withdrawn to bolster the president’s war-victory claims in the upcoming election.
The troops were originally sent to push back the Taliban and create safe spaces in which the US could prepare Afghan forces to take over security in the country. And although that task is incomplete, the surge troops have left the country.
The withdrawal was not expected to be wrapped up until the end of September, but it is now already complete.
And while there’s no doubt that the families of our returning military personnel will be thrilled to see them and should be proud of them, this maneuver leaves the remaining contingent of US forces in Afghanistan even smaller and therefore more vulnerable.
But Obama wants to boast of “winding down the war in Afghanistan” as the election approaches.