US Commander Wants 20,000 Troops in Afghanistan Post-2014

The top US military commander in the Middle East told senators for the first time Tuesday that he had envisioned keeping about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan after combat operations end in 2014.
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Gen. James Mattis, head of US Central Command, said he personally recommended the US leave 13,600 troops in Afghanistan and that he assumed the Nato allies would probably contribute "around 50 percent" of the US total, which would be roughly 6,500.

"We have to send a message of commitment," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The US and Nato leaders said last month that they may keep between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after combat troops leave in 2014.

At the Nato meeting in Brussels in February, the former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta acknowledged the range being considered, but noted that no final decision has been made.

Panetta said that most allied defense ministers assured him they were committed to remaining part of a US-led coalition after combat forces leave Afghanistan.

The US and Nato leaders have said that they are strongly considering a plan to continue funding a security force of 352,000 Afghan troops through 2018, as part of an effort to maintain security and help convince Afghanistan that America and its allies will not abandon it once combat troops leave in 2014, senior alliance officials said Thursday.

There are around 90,000 Nato-led international troops in Afghanistan helping over 300,000 Afghan security forces fight insurgency.

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