American Troop Commitments to Allies, Afghanistan and Cameroon

United States President Barack Obama’s Administration announced yesterday that it will maintain a larger force of American troops in Afghanistan in 2016 and even extend their mission into 2017 to help the Afghan government to continue to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists, together with the U.S.-led coalition. 

            This strategic decision reflects the learning of the lesson of withdrawing prematurely from Iraq at the end of 2013, which allowed al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq, which split off into the “Islamic State” to seize large swathes of Iraqi territory.  The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan continues to train Afghan troops while providing various levels of support in this critical battleground in the War on Terrorism to prevent the Taliban from returning to power to provide a safe haven to their al-Qaeda allies.  Al-Qaeda originated the September 11, 2001 Attacks on the U.S. from Afghanistan.

            Also, President Obama declared yesterday that the U.S. has sent a small contingent of non-combat armed military personnel to Cameroon to provide intelligence and other support to help that ally in the fight against al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Nigeria, Boko Haram. 

           It is vitally important as the U.S. continues to fight the “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria that the mortal threat from al-Qaeda not be ignored.  It is also mutually beneficial to support strong allies like Afghanistan and Cameroon against our common enemies.