(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Obama is taking an “unnecessary risk,” depriving the US military of "troops that are needed for a second fighting season," said McCain in a CNN interview from the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday.
Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently attributed the decision to political pressures within the US against the Afghan war and to the deteriorating budgetary and financial troubles of the American government, warning of an August shutdown of the US government if the issue is not resolved.
McCain also noted that none of the US military commanders has recommended the drawdown.
In 2009, the US president ordered the deployment of an additional 33,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, describing them as “surge troops,” intended to enable the US-led forces in the war-torn country to beat back growing Taliban operations and establish better security and stability there.
No such development has transpired, as more Afghan civilians have fallen victim to US-led military operations and aerial attacks in the country and Taliban militants continue to preserve their presence and fighting power, so much so that the US now advocates negotiating with the very radical group that they came to uproot.
On June 22, Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of the current year and another 23,000 by September 2012.
The withdrawal, which is scheduled to begin this month, would leave the United States with about 68,000 fighting soldiers in Afghanistan by the fall of 2012.
At least 283 US-led foreign forces have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.
According to official figures, more than 2,564 US-led soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country began in 2001.
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