Reducing the garrison leads allies to worry that the U.S. military wants to withdraw from Ayi not so easy

　　Reducing the troops stationed in the two countries leads allies to continue to worry

　　It is not easy

for the

US military to withdraw from Ayi (Global Hotspot)

　　US Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller stated on January 15 that the number of US troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq had been reduced to approximately 2,500 on the same day.

The current number of US troops in Afghanistan has dropped to the lowest level since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.

In recent years, the United States has tried to accelerate the withdrawal of troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and other countries.

However, the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq once again affected the sensitive nerves of the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

　　Strategic contraction continues to withdraw troops

　　According to Agence France-Presse, US Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller stated in a statement that the decline in the number of US troops reflects the improvement of the Iraqi security forces' ability to combat the extremist organization "Islamic State", and does not represent a change in US policy.

The US military and the forces of the International Coalition against the "Islamic State" will continue to exist in Iraq to ensure the complete defeat of the "Islamic State."

The U.S. Department of Defense will continue to advance the plan to withdraw all U.S. troops in Afghanistan by May this year, but the implementation of the future withdrawal plan will depend on the specific circumstances.

　　This withdrawal is part of the US's efforts to continuously reduce the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years.

In 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan after the "9.11" terrorist attack.

In 2003, the United States launched the Iraq War.

The number of US troops stationed in Afghanistan reached 110,000 in 2013.

　　In recent years, the White House has continuously issued "withdrawal orders": In December 2018, it announced the withdrawal of US troops in Syria; in June 2020, it announced a substantial reduction of US troops in Germany; from September to November, it set several withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan. schedule.

At the end of 2011, the United States withdrew its troops from Iraq, leaving only a small number of soldiers.

In February 2020, the US government signed an agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The United States promised to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan from approximately 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days, and the remaining US and NATO coalition soldiers will be withdrawn from Afghanistan within 14 months (before May 2021).

In November 2020, Miller announced that the US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced to 2500 troops by mid-January 2021.

At that time, about 4,500 American soldiers were serving in Afghanistan and 3,000 were serving in Iraq.

　　"It is a long-term trend for the United States to reduce the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is also an inevitable choice for the strategic thinking of the United States in this region." Associate Professor Wang Jin of the Middle East Institute of Northwestern University said in an interview with our reporter that the US government will now Afghanistan and the Middle East have to be weighed against the pros and cons.

The US confidence in foreign intervention is declining, and it has begun to devote more energy to US domestic affairs and matters more closely related to national security.

　　"America First" Allies Dissatisfied

　　The reduction in the number of US troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq has affected the nerves of US allies and NATO allies in the region.

　　According to the US Consumer News and Business Channel, in November 2020, when Miller proposed to reduce US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that NATO has been in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. No NATO allies hope to continue to station troops for longer than necessary.

However, a premature or uncoordinated withdrawal will pay a huge price: Afghanistan may once again become a "platform for terrorists to launch attacks on the West", and international terrorists are likely to grow their power in Afghanistan and launch attacks against NATO countries. .

　　"The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq involves multiple relations between the U.S. and countries in the region and NATO allies." Wang Jin believes that the Afghan government is unwilling to withdraw U.S. troops, and some political factions in Iraq also hope that U.S. troops will stay.

Neighboring countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and Israel prefer the US military to stay because the involvement of the US military means that the US is playing a certain strategic role accepted by regional countries in the Afghanistan and Iraq issues.

American allies in the region and NATO allies hope that the United States can continue to assume the responsibility of maintaining regional political balance.

　　"Withdrawing from overseas conflicts has always been one of the core contents of the'America First' policy." The New York Times website reported.

Wang Jin analyzed that the United States spent a lot of energy in Afghanistan and Iraq, but failed to completely stifle extremism.

Ending the United States’ long-term and costly military intervention in the region and withdrawing American soldiers from the region has been a major goal of the United States for some time.

　　All long-term trends withdraw

　　The Bloomberg website reported that the hasty withdrawal of US troops may benefit extremist forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to Reuters, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milly said that the remaining US troops will continue to perform two core tasks: assisting the Afghan security forces and combating extremist organizations.

　　A 2019 statistical report from the US Department of Defense shows that from September 11, 2001 to September 30, 2019, the United States spent more than $1.57 trillion in war expenditures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other places.

The Afghan War has become the longest-lasting war in the United States. Fighting and overseas troops have brought huge war expenditures to the United States.

　　"It will be a general trend for the United States to continue to reduce its investment in Afghanistan and the Middle East." Wang Jin pointed out that the deep-seated contradiction in the strategic layout of the US military in the region lies in the fact that on the one hand, the intervention of the US military has broken the regional political balance and extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq The growth of terrorism is to some extent related to US interference.

On the other hand, the US military has been fighting against extremist organizations in recent years, and it has indeed played a certain role in combating local extremism and terrorism.

　　Wang Jin analyzed that from a military perspective, in the face of complex geopolitical realities, the thousands of American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq cannot meet the needs of protecting regional security.

With the continuous withdrawal of the garrison, the remaining thousands of soldiers will be on the front line in danger.

　　US media pointed out that as the conflict between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government intensifies, the United States will face a new problem: the United States wants to withdraw its troops, but the Afghan government hopes that the United States will become a "reliable ally" to provide support.

Gao Qiao

Gao Qiao