U.S. troops guarding poppy fields in Helmand province, Afghanistan in 2012. (Photo: USMC)
Numerous reports suggest that Washington’s war hawks are not happy with President Trump’s announcement of bringing US troops home from both Syria and Afghanistan. Clearly there is dissension in the ranks of a Military Industrial Complex that has come to rely especially on the ongoing Afghan war theatre as a major profits center. Now, despite the fanfare following the President’s announcement of a large draw-down of 7,000 US troops from Afghanistan, some high-ranking Pentagon officials are claiming they know nothing about such a move.
One such official is US General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who dismissed reports, calling them “rumors swirling around.”
Dunford’s sentiments were echoed by General Scott Miller, who maintained that the US will continue fighting until a political settlement is reached in Afghanistan.
Task and Purpose reports…
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford appeared to dismiss reports that President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of some 7,000 U.S. service members from Afghanistan as “rumors” during a USO holiday event on Monday.
- “There’s all kinds of rumors swirling around,” Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told U.S. forces at Camp Dahlke West during the event there, Stars and Stripes reports. “The mission you have today is the same as the mission you had yesterday.”
- Dunford’s comment came one day after Army Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, stated that he had received “no orders” to withdraw U.S. forces from the country yet.
- “I have no orders, so nothing has changed,” Miller said during a meeting with the with the governor of the Nangarhar province. “But if I do get orders, I think it is important for you to know that we are still with the security forces. Even if I have to get a little bit smaller, we will be okay.”
READ MORE AFGHANISTAN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Afghanistan Files
SUPPORT 21WIRE – SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV