Trump removing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq is ‘fraught with risk’, Pentagon chief warns

Donald Trump’s planned reduction of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan before the next presidential administration is “fraught with risk”, according to the newly-installed Pentagon chief.

Acting Secretary of Defence Christopher C Miller said the US would not hesitate to strike back if malign actors undermined the recently-announced withdrawal to 2,500 troops in each country by 15 January 2021.  

“As we implement the president’s orders, we recognise that transitions and campaigns are fraught with risk and unexpected challenges and opportunities,” Mr Miller said, according to the Associated Press.

“At the same time, should any malign actors underestimate our resolve or attempt to undermine our efforts, we will not hesitate to restore deterrence and defeat any and all threats,” he added.

Mr Miller, a special forces veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, was speaking at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg on Wednesday.

The troop withdrawal met with criticism among both Democrats and Republicans after Mr Miller announced Mr Trump’s decision at the Pentagon a day earlier.

Mr Miller said the reductions would be done in a way that “protects our fighting men and women and our hard-earned gains.”

Republican leaders, meanwhile, opposed the move, which came as the Trump administration insists the Taliban is following through on peace-keeping promises made with NATO allies earlier this year.

“I don’t know of any condition which justifies reducing further the troops that we have in Afghanistan,” Texas Congressman Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters at a Heritage Foundation event this week.

“As a matter of fact I think it undercuts the negotiations to say, ‘Well, whatever you do or don’t do, we are going to reduce our troops even further.’”

A recent report from Acting Defense Department Inspector General Sean O’Donnell concluded it was “unclear” whether the Taliban was actually meeting its obligations.

“While the Taliban has generally honoured its obligation to cease attacks against US forces and interests in Afghanistan, it is difficult to discern the extent to which it is meeting the requirement that Afghanistan not serve as a haven for terrorists who threaten the United States,” Mr O’Donnell wrote. 

“Furthermore, the Taliban has escalated its attacks on Afghan forces, which threatens to derail the peace process between the Taliban and the Afghan government that began this quarter.”