US President Donald Trump wants to draw down troops in Afghanistan before the 2020 presidential election, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
During remarks at the Economic Club of Washington, Pompeo said he’d seen “real progress” with security in the area, Military Times reported.
The comments came just hours before NATO officials announced two US service members were killed in Afghanistan during train-and-assist missions. About 14,000 US troops are stationed in the country.
“End the endless wars, draw down, reduce,” Pompeo said, Military News reported. “It won’t just be us. … we hope that overall, the need for combat forces in the region is reduced.”
Asked about timing the withdrawal to the election, Pompeo laughed that “it’s not only my expectation, it would be job enhancing,” according to Military Times.
The number of US forces in Afghanistan has actually increased in the two-plus years since Trump took office, the news outlet reported.
“When I was there last, I met with [non-governmental organizations], I met with women’s groups, a broad swath of Afghanistan,” Pompeo said, Military Times reported.
“We want them to take their country back and we want to reduce what is for us tens of billions of dollars a year in expenditures and enormous risk to your kids and your grandkids who are fighting for America.”
So far this year, 12 US service members have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan; more than 2,400 have died there since 2001.
