Richard Armitage on Afghanistan: ‘I Think the Bulk of the Military Presence Should Go’

Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of State under President George W. Bush, said Monday he believes the U.S. should pull out the bulk of its forces in Afghanistan, instead of increasing the number as reportedly planned.

“I think the bulk of the military presence should go. A counterterrorism force remaining in place makes sense politically and practically in terms of protection of our homeland but nothing in putting 4,000 more troops in is going to address the central problems of the Afghan government,” Armitage told NPR.

President Trump announced his strategy for Afghanistan last Monday. The key differences from former President Obama’s strategy are not having a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal, being tougher on Pakistan, working closer with India to develop Afghanistan economically, and expanding military authorities for U.S. troops.

Trump has given Defense Secretary James Mattis the authority to deploy up to 3,900 more U.S. forces, but it is not clear yet how many are going and what they would do.

Armitage expressed skepticism of the new plan, which he said does not address whether the Afghan government will be able to make use of any gains U.S. troops help them achieve.

Despite the investment of almost $1 trillion and about 100,000 U.S. troops and thousands of government civilians at one point, the Afghan government has not been able to overcome endemic corruption.

“We can train Afghan soldiers again. We can equip Afghan soldiers again, but what we can’t do is make the Afghan government worthy of their sacrifice. They’re not willing to die for that government. Nowhere in the president’s speech do I see that the government of Afghanistan is in any way, shape, or form is going to be able to stand up on its own,” Armitage said.

He said it would “make some sense” for a U.S. troop presence to act as a “counterterrorism” platform to go after terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan while downsizing the U.S. troop presence.

“But since that was not addressed I can’t take that point of view,” he said.