A U.S. soldier keeps watch at the scene of a car-bomb attack in Kabul.
Photo: Wakin Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
Although the White House still plans to withdraw all but 1,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of Obama’s presidency, the U.S. has agreed to slow down the pullout after a request from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. “I’ve decided that we will maintain our current posture of 9,800 troops through the end of this year,”Obama said during a joint press conference with Ghani this afternoon at the White House. “We want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help Afghan security forces succeed,” he added, “so we don’t have to go back.”
