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U.S. Troop Withdrawal: Obama May Speed Up Full Military Pullout From Afghanistan, NYT Reports

NYT: U.S. Mulls Speeding Up Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan
Reuters
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WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - The United States is considering speeding up its planned withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, including a possible "zero option" that would result in no U.S. forces in that country after 2014, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Citing U.S. and European officials, the Times reported that President Barack Obama has become increasingly frustrated by his dealings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, with their fraying relationship falling to new depths after last month's U.S. move to open peace talks with the Taliban.

A June 27 video conference between Obama and Karzai aimed at lowering tensions ended poorly, the Times reported on its website, citing U.S. and Afghan officials with knowledge of the conversation.

The Times reported that Karzai accused the United States of trying to forge a separate peace with the Taliban and its Pakistani supporters in an arrangement that would expose Karzai's government to its enemies.

Obama is committed to wrapping up U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, but the United States has been talking with officials in Afghanistan about keeping a small "residual" force there after next year.

Since the video conference, a full military pullout from Afghanistan like the one from Iraq has been transformed from a "worst-case scenario" to an option "under serious consideration in Washington and Kabul," the Times reported.

The officials quoted by the Times said no decisions have been made on the pace and scale of the withdrawal.

The United States also had planned on keeping a small force in Iraq after the broad troop withdrawal from that country, but talks with Iraqi leaders failed to yield such a deal.

A senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: "All options remain on the table but a decision is far from made."

"There's always been a zero option, but it was not seen as the main option," the Times quoted a senior Western official in Kabul as saying. "It is now becoming one of them, and if you listen to some people in Washington, it is maybe now being seen as a realistic path."

The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan - now around 63,000 - already is set to decline to 34,000 by next February, the Times noted. The White House has said the great majority of American forces would be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. (Reporting by Will Dunham and Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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Before You Go

U.S. Drone Strikes In Afghanistan
(01 of11)
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In this Wednesday, March 20, 2013 photo, Afghan villager Ghulam Rasool sits in the yard of his house where he and his family found refuge in the village of Khalis Family Village, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Rasool padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and in the middle of the night left his mountain home to escape relentless air strikes. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(02 of11)
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In this Wednesday, March 20, 2013 photo, the grandchildren of Afghan villager Ghulam Rasool, in the yard of the house where he and his family found refuge in the village of Khalis Family Village, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Ahmed's grandfather Rasool padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and in the middle of the night left his mountain home with is family to escape relentless air strikes. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(03 of11)
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In this Wednesday, March 20, 2013 photo, the grandson of Afghan villager Ghulam Rasool, 12 year old Ahmed Shah, center, recalled the attack on his village in the yard of his house where he and his family found refuge in the village of Khalis Family Village, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Ahmed's grandfather Rasool padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and in the middle of the night left his mountain home with is family to escape relentless air strikes. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(04 of11)
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FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2009 file photo, a KZO surveillance drone takes off from the German base in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Criticism of drones has mounted in recent months. At the United Nations an inquiry has been launched into the civilian impact and human rights implications of using drones. The first in a series of reports is expected in May. In the United States, lawmakers are demanding greater transparency questioning the legality of using the unmanned predators to target and kill American citizens overseas as well as the implications of using smaller surveillance drones in the U.S. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File) (credit:AP)
(05 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Afghan boys study in a makeshift school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The village lost its former school building after Taliban militants attacked the district headquarters of Budyali in July 2011. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(06 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, an Afghan man sits among the debris of a destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(07 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Afghan men sit among the debris of their destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(08 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Hayat Gul, who was injured in a gun battle ahead of a 2011 air assault on the village school he guarded, tells his story in Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters and then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(09 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Afghan men peer through the former window of their destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(10 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, Afghan men walk through the debris of their destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
(11 of11)
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In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 photo, papers of schoolbooks lie among the debris of a destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The Taliban attacked the district headquarters of Budyali in July 2011 and coalition forces responded to the Afghan National Army request for help with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) (credit:AP)
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