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Mac Thornberry warns US to halt draw down of troops in Afghanistan
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House Armed Services Committee Chairman of US, Rep. Mac Thornberry is urging the Obama administration to halt the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan amid worries it could again become a terrorist safe haven.
“I’m concerned about the decisions that the president is to make in the next few weeks or months” about the planned pace of the drawdown, said Thornberry, who just returned from a trip to Afghanistan.
The Obama administration is scheduled to begin drawing down the roughly 9,800 U.S. troops there to just an embassy presence of around 1,000 by the end of next year, when President Obama leaves office.
Thornberry said that move would leave Afghanistan vulnerable to the Taliban, al Qaeda remnants, a growing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) presence, and other terrorist groups who could plot attacks against the U.S.
“What I’m looking at is what’s in U.S. national security interests, and I keep coming back to the point that terrorism is always going to be attracted to Afghanistan. We’ve seen homeland plots in the past come from there, and for us not to have a presence, for us not to be able to gather intelligence, it would just be a huge blunder,” he said.
The chairman also said the ISIS presence in Afghanistan “has grown faster there than most people in Washington appreciate.”
Army Gen. John Campbell, the head of coalition forces there, is due to deliver his recommendations on the pace of the drawdown to the administration in the coming weeks. Thornberry said he met with him “at length,” as well as with Afghan President Abdul Ghani.
While Thornberry said he did not favor a “permanent” U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, he said the administration should at least stop drawing down forces and closing bases.
“Don’t close any bases of the remaining bases. So we’re just down to a handful of facilities, and I think, don’t make it any worse,” he warned.
“Right now, everybody’s planning to basically follow the Iraq model, which is, bring the remaining troops into the embassy in Kabul, and close everything else,” Thornberry said.
“A great deal of damage comes to our national security interests when we beat a hasty withdrawal,” he added. “Good heavens, if we’ve learned anything from what’s happened in Iraq, surely we’ve learned that.”
The administration decided to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, after both countries failed to sign an agreement that would have given U.S. troops immunity from Iraqi law.
Critics point to that decision as a major factor in allowing al Qaeda militants in Iraq, who later became the ISIS, to gain a foothold in the country last year.
The administration plan would see the closure of the handful of remaining U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, and a U.S. troop presence only in the embassy in Kabul.
“If that happens, we cannot collect the intelligence we need to collect, we will have more limited ability to conduct counterterrorism operations. It will be a big loss to us,” Thornberry said.
The U.S. first deployed troops in Afghanistan in 2001, after al Qaeda head Osama bin Laden planned and oversaw the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks there. Bin Laden was given safe haven by the Taliban, which then controlled the government.
The U.S.-led coalition troop presence grew to 120,000 at the height of the war in 2009. Obama, however, pledged to end both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and announced in 2014 a plan to gradually withdraw all but an embassy presence by the end of 2016.
The construction of a water canal, planned by the late Japanese doctor and aid worker Tetsu Nakamura, has been completed in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.
Nakamura was from Japan, but had honorary citizenship of Afghanistan. He was killed in 2019.
He worked in Nangarhar for many years, focusing mainly on building water canals.
Nakamura was working hard to complete his projects, but these were suspended following his death.
Later, the projects were resumed with the help of the government of Japan.
During his time in Nangarhar, Nakamura built several health centers and carried out more than 1,600 irrigation projects, canal constructions and provision of clean water.
His greatest work was the construction of a 25-kilometer long canal from the Kunar river, which irrigates hundreds of acres of land.
He also built a recreation park, dug wells, and established agricultural research farms.
“Dr. Nakamura made 9 weirs in Kama, Shewa and Behsud districts. Thousands of acres of land are irrigated and millions of people benefit from it. All the projects planned by Nakamura have been completed,” said Ajmal Stankzai, the representative of the Nakamura Foundation.
“Nakamura would behave with a laborer like a laborer. He would take stones with us. He used to tell us that the people of every country serve their country and you should also serve the ruined Afghanistan,” said Deen Mohammad, a resident of Koz Kanar district of Nangarhar.
In Kama district, the work of Nakamura projects is ongoing. One of the projects is the construction of a secon canal from the Kunar river.
“There was a huge water problem in Kama district. Fortunately, with Nakamura’s cooperation, many lands were irrigated,” said Bashir Ahmad Kamawal, a resident of Kama district of Nangarhar.
After Nakamura’s death, now an NGO called PMS is following in his footsteps and is working to build canals and dams.
Recently, the construction of a canal in Kot district of Nangarhar was completed and inaugurated. The canal is 5 kilometers long.
“Many projects are planned and our ministry has taken care of them… We thank them for feeling the pain of Afghans and helping our country,” said Abdul Latif Mansour, Acting Minister of Energy and Water.
Tetsu Nakamura was shot and killed by unknown men in 2019 when he was going to work from Jalalabad city. It is not yet known who was behind the assassination.
A deminer died in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, police said.
The incident happened around 10:00 a.m. in Khurma area of provincial capital Trink Kot, said Hazrat Bilal Uruzgani, the provincial police spokesman.
Another deminer was injured in the incident, he said
Uruzgani said that the incident happened during an operation to clear the area from mines.
Afghanistan’s acting minister of public health Dr Qalandar Ebad, along with other officials, visited a number of flood-hit villages in Baghlan province on Tuesday.
The officials assessed damage in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo in the Guzargah district.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, Ebad inspected “vulnerable areas affected by recent floods and, expressing sympathy with the local people, promised that the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health will spare no effort to provide health services to those in need.”
Ebad also expressed gratitude for the efforts of healthcare workers and their commitment to helping people in need.
He directed officials to make every effort “to improve the health status of patients affected by recent floods in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo, Baghlan province”.
Based on official figures, more than 300 people have died as a result of floods in Baghlan province and over 1,600 others have been injured.
Nakamura canal project completed in Nangarhar
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Tahawol: Efforts to address families affected by floods
Floods & people’s behavior on this natural phenomenon discussed
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