KABUL — US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived on an unannounced visit to Kabul on Wednesday for talks with military commanders ahead of a decision on how large a US military presence to keep in the country after the NATO mission ends in 2014. Panetta has not disclosed how large a force he thinks will be needed, but one US official has told Reuters that figures as low as 6,000 US troops were under consideration.
“The size of that enduring presence is something that the president is going to be considering over these next few weeks,” Panetta told troops in Kuwait before bording his flight to Kabul.
Panetta told reporters traveling with him that he would meet the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, to discuss options being prepared for Obama's consideration. Obama, he said, would hopefully come to a decision “in the next few weeks”.
Obama, fresh from a re-election victory, has made clear his intention to end the 11-year-old war and bring the vast majority US forces home by the end of 2014.There are 68,000 US troops in the country, a figure expected to gradually decline over the next two years, despite concerns that the Taliban remains a resilient enemy. — Reuters