US should remain committed in equipping Afghan soldiers

The continued presence of US troops in Afghanistan will not solve any problem until Afghan soldiers are not fully equipped.

A number of Afghan political and military analysts in reaction to the recent statements of US president have said that America is a basic need for wiping out the terrorism in Afghanistan and the need should be resolved before the year 2018.

Obama’s recent statements followed fears and hopes which has direct link with Afghanistan’s situation.

Barack Obama in his recent speech said it would be ‘well worth it’ to extend US troop levels in Afghanistan for a few more months, but he said the overall timeline for drawing down the force has not changed from the goal of 2017.

Barack Obama had originally planned to cut the size of US forces from its current level of 9,800 to about 5,000 by the end of the 2015.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani said at a joint press conference with Obama that US flexibility in leaving more troops in place would help accelerate reforms and better train Afghan forces.

Atiqullah Amar Khail, military analyst said, “Three years is not little opportunity if the members of national unity government can use it. But if situations continues like this, more difficult conditions are imaginable.”

“We need the presence of foreign troops till Daesh and other insurgency groups such Taliban activate in Afghanistan. The basic problem is the lack of military equipment that should be solved.” Dawood Asas, political analyst said.

Meanwhile, some of Parliament members emphasized that US should remain committed until Afghanistan to hunker.

The US president said that he remained committed to withdrawing all American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, leaving behind only a small force to guard the US embassy.

Mr Obama’s decision to slow down the US withdrawal reflects what he called “the reinvigorated partnership” with Afghanistan.

Obama said that the US was wanted “to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to help Afghan security forces succeed so we don’t have to go back”.

Farhad Sidiqi, Member of Parliament said, “US should remain committed and cooperate Afghan soldiers in launching special operations.”

“We support US troops presence in Afghanistan and call on them to have an honest cooperation,” Nafisa Azimi, member of parliament said.

Mr. Obama’s decision on the troop levels came after a direct entreaty from Mr. Ghani, who has been visiting the United States this week. While the decision will mean that some American soldiers who had expected to return home will rotate back into Afghanistan “for a few extra months,” Mr. Obama said, the additional time will be “well worth it.”
Reported by Wahid Nawesa