New perspectives are rising as time passes by after the US announced its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Recently, the US set a plan to monitor Afghanistan beyond its borders and keep supporting Afghan forces. Mixed opinions have risen at the US senate over the US’s effective support for Afghan forces after withdrawal.
This happened after top US Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie’s announcement to fight terror groups from beyond Afghanistan’s borders. He said that he would give recommendations to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin regarding the best way to monitor and counter their presence. Pentagon officials noted that the US has capabilities to monitor insurgent groups in Afghanistan without having a military presence there.
The US is capable of monitoring Afghanistan
Commenting about it, Gen. Matthew G. Trollinger, a Deputy Director for Political-Military Affairs said, “We have the capabilities to be able to posture in the region where it is required. He said the US is “able to monitor potential adversaries, track these adversaries and then strike when conditions permit”.
It is much harder to support Forces if we leave completely
On the contrary, some US senators showed concerns. They opined that a complete withdrawal would make it ineffective to further support Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF). Additionally,The US aims to work with ANDSF to counter-terrorism.
For instance, Senator Jack Reed said “We must look to transition to a new counterterrorism architecture in the region to continue to degrade al Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups and prevent their ability to attack our homeland”.
Similarly, Senator Jim Inhofe said that a complete withdrawal of US forces would make it much harder and more expensive to support effectively our Afghan security partners.
Furthermore, Zalmay Khalilzad has said that talks are underway between the US and Afghanistan about how the US can monitor Afghanistan.
New options after Withdrawal
Moreover, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday. She said that the alliance’s military presence is ending in Afghanistan, but a new chapter is being opened by NATO. NATO and the US future support for Afghanistan “will have three main pillars”.
A few days back, concerns were raised over the US pressuring Pakistan to lend its air bases, which Pakistan declined. It has been said that the US is engaging with countries that border Afghanistan to station its troops to fight terrorism.
