Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said Thursday that troop levels in Afghanistan have to be based on conditions on the ground, noting several setbacks Afghan fighters have faced during their fight against the Taliban.
Reed, who traveled to Afghanistan earlier this month, said administration officials will need to look at how things develop over the next few month after a “challenging” year for the Afghan National Security Forces.
“You’ve got to look at conditions on the ground,” Reed told reporters in his office on Thursday. “All that has to be evaluated, then Gen. [John] Campbell has to make a recommendation based on the appearance on the ground as to what he thinks the proper force structure is, the proper disposition of forces in country, and I think that recommendation has to be given great weight.”
There are currently about 10,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The president announced last year that that number would drop to 5,500 late this year.
Reed talked about some changes he saw on the ground as the Afghan National Security Forces wrapped up their first year taking the lead in the fight against the Taliban — a change the Taliban knows about and is taking advantage of, Reed said.
As a result, there has been no break in the fighting season this year. This round-the-clock tempo of violence is taking its toll on the Afghan forces and has cut into their ability to reset and train in between battles, Reed said.
“We’ve learned a lot, the Afghans have learned a lot, the Taliban has learned a lot too,” Reed said.
The Afghans have also had to contend with the Islamic State in the Khorasan Province, a splinter group of disaffected Taliban fighters who are trying to rebrand as part of the Islamic State. Reed said no one expected the rise of this group, or the violence that has occurred between it and the Taliban.
