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Carter Cagey On Kandahar

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During Ash Carter’s “Everything Is Super Fine In Afghanistan” tour, he made a stop at Kandahar Airfield, which might figure in to his suggestions for the Commander in Chief about the pace of the US drawdown.

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New U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited the sprawling complex on Sunday, but kept reporters guessing whether he thought it should remain operational longer – keeping a U.S. toe-hold in an important region of Afghanistan.

“My advice needs to go first to the president,” Carter told reporters during his first trip since swearing-in on Tuesday.

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But the thought of shutting down Kandahar early has appalled the likes of Senator Lindsey “I Never Met An Intervention I Didn’t Like” Graham.

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The prospect of exiting Kandahar altogether has sounded alarms in Washington, where Republican lawmakers critical of President Barack Obama’s withdrawal strategy note the region’s importance to Taliban militants and the threat they pose.

“Kandahar is just not a spot on the map. That’s the spiritual home of the Taliban,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declared at a Senate hearing this month.

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Of course the Afghan National Army (ANA) isn’t thrilled with the idea of Kandahar’s closing in 2015.

[quote_box_center]The head of the Afghan National Army’s 205th corps in Kandahar told Carter’s delegation that America’s contributions were vital, according to one U.S. official. Major General Abdullah Hamid said “I need you to be here,” the official recounted, paraphrasing.[/quote_box_center]

Pretty sure the non-paraphrased version went something like this:

“Are you kidding me? You’re leaving already? I don’t have enough guns, people, or trucks. Oh, and when are we getting those helicopters you keep promising us? You know they’re starting to hang soldiers now, right? And don’t even get me started on ISIS! I need you to be here!”

General Campbell was a little more forthcoming. Or as forthcoming as he can be.

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Under current plans, the U.S. military would wind up operations at Kandahar Air Field at the end of this year. But doing so would require American forces to start closing down in the middle of what could be a difficult summer fighting season.

Gen. John Campbell, head of the U.S.-led military coalition, said on Sunday that he wants to wait until later this year before deciding when to end the American mission in Kandahar.

“It’s easy for me to say I want to stay here forever, or that I want to stay through the end of 2016,” he said. “We may get through this fighting season and [reach] the point where I can say we can take it down here and leverage the gains elsewhere. It’s not black and white.”

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Which cleared nothing up.


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