Four influential US Senators have asked President Obama to reject the considerations of downsizing Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) after NATO withdrawal in 2014. The senators include Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. In a letter to President Obama, they said the considerations of reducing the size of Afghan forces are premature and militarily unjustified. The Obama Administration is considering heavy downsizing of Afghan National Security Forces to reduce the burden of expenses on the US and its NATO allies.
The letter by the US senators says it is a wrong approach for determining the future size of the Afghan security forces. They asked Obama to base structure decisions for Afghan forces on a realistic assessment of the conditions they will be facing after the transition and withdrawal of the bulk of international troops from Afghanistan.
To maintain the current strength of Afghan National Security Forces, about $10 billion is needed annually. The US and its NATO allies have principally agreed to fund ANSF $4 billion annually, and the size of forces have to be reduced more than half. Without the US and NATO support, Afghanistan will not be able to maintain its security forces.
The US senators further said it is crucial to ensure strength of Afghan forces so that they can take security control after the withdrawal, and enough number of capable troops is available to sustain and expand the security, reconstruction achievements by the US and coalition troops, and maintain writ of Afghan Government besides fighting a sophisticated insurgency. The senators said the strength of Afghan National Security Forces and ensuring the funding necessary to support its maintenance will determine the goal to sustain stability.
The US officials are advocating a plan to heavily reduce the size of ANSF. Reports say these considerations will be discussed in the coming NATO Summit in Chicago in May.
The US senators have raised a timely concern about a very risky move by the Obama Administration which can derail all the hard-won achievements, and Afghanistan could easily descent into chaos after the US and NATO withdrawal. We believe the US and its NATO allies should make decisions regarding the funding and support of Afghan National Security Forces based on long-term strategic security threats and needs, not the temporary financial crisis.
Given the fact that the negotiations with the Taliban for a political settlement to end the conflict has not resulted in a positive development, it is a disastrous gamble of risk to easily let Afghanistan descent into chaos and once again become home of international terrorists.