Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon on Wednesday morning that “We believe that now after 20 years — two decades of consistent effort there — we’ve achieved a modicum of success.”
“We went to Afghanistan … to ensure that Afghanistan never again became a platform for terrorists to strike the United States,” he said.
Milley also said that US troops will continue training Afghan and Iraqi combat forces after the partial US withdrawals from those nations ordered by President Donald Trump last month.
Trump ordered the new drawdowns to be completed by Jan. 15, five days before he leaves office.
The moves will leave about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
However, he declined to provide many details about the US withdrawal plans for Afghanistan, citing security concerns.
The US media recently reported that American troops will shut down some bases that it has maintained across the country, reducing its footprint to “a couple of larger bases with several satellite bases that provide the capability to continue our train, advise and assist mission and our counterterrorism mission,” Milley said.
“What comes after that, that will be up to a new administration,” Milley said. “We’ll find that out on the 20th of January and beyond.”
