McCain Calls On US to Keep Troops in Afghanistan

Don't withdraw from Afghanistan, says US Senator John McCain. Upset that the Obama administration is planning to shut down US military bases in Afghanistan and reduce American troops from 9,800 to 1,000 here by the end of 2016, he feels that Washington is being foolhardy, according to sputnik.

"A calendar-based withdrawal - that would be a tragedy, and in my view, an opening for the Taliban to gain and create success here in Afghanistan," John McCain says in Kabul.

It will enable the Taliban to seize the opportunity to get control over the west as well as east of Afghanistan, otherwise the US would play in ISIL's hands, he complains.

"The Taliban still has significant capabilities, and those capabilities can best be countered by continued US military support and without that the place is at risk," the US Senator insists.

While the Afghan forces have been trying to fight off the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO combat missions finished at the end of last year, more than 2,300 Afghan soldiers, police and pro-government fighters have been killed since the beginning of 2014. This exceeds the number U.S. troops killed since the 2001 invasion, which ended the Taliban rule, according to yahoonews.

Even though the Obama government is trying to end the Afghani drive, which is already called the "longest war in the US history", Senator McCain believes that American troops should remain in Afghanistan---even with just 5,000 - 6,000 troops in the region, including its bases in Kandahar and Kabul after 2016.

After a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, McCain says that the US could look at a complete intelligence assessment of the ground reality, especially the US military presence in Afghanistan after 2016.

"There are currently 9,800 US troops in the region, while in 2011 the number of US military servicemen amounted to around 100,000," according to sputnik.