Biden has some domestic political cover — some members in Congress are worried about a full drawdown. And the President has been sharply critical of the details that Trump administration negotiated.
“I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave. The fact is, that was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the President — the former President — worked out. So, we’re in consultation with our allies as well as the government, and that decision’s — it’s in process now,” Biden told ABC.
A report from an influential Afghanistan study group co-chaired by former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford recommended a more flexible timeline based on conditions such as reduced violence.
One critical problem is the current agreement with the Taliban does not acknowledge potentially hundreds of US special operations forces in the country that are not part of the current group of 2,500 US troops there. If they stay to help with counter-terrorism missions beyond a drawdown, the US may have to broadly acknowledge that presence.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.