President Donald Trump is being accused of undermining his national security advisor and the leadership of the military with his tweet of Oct. 7 in which he said that all U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by Christmas. One impression that emerges from the media coverage, however, is of a Defense Department not in a hurry to leave. Nick Schifrin, reporting during the PBS NewsHour last night, said he had been told by unnamed Pentagon officials that there was no coordination between the White House and the Pentagon with regard to either Trump’s Twitter message or the speech that National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien had delivered hours earlier in which he said that the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be down to 2,500 by the end of the year.
“Senior military officials oppose accelerating the withdrawal from Afghanistan. They tell me, Judy, that even if they had to withdraw by the end of the year, they couldn’t do it in a very safe way. And if they had to, they would have to destroy equipment that’s already in Afghanistan,” Schifrin said. “And any kind of speedy withdrawal could also lead the embassy to reduce presence, because the military provides both security and transportation.”
“But if the military is worried about the White House, it’s mutual,” Schifrin continued. “One White House official talking to me today said the military was — quote — ‘dragging their feet’ on the withdrawal. And a separate U.S. official told me that these statements help remind the Department of Defense to take withdrawal seriously.” It’s also the case, he added later, that no formal order has been issued.
An unnamed senior administration official, asked by Politico about the conflicting timelines of O’Brien and Trump, stated on Oct. 8 that “POTUS really laid down a marker yesterday.” “He’s the commander in chief and we all follow his lead,” said the official.
