Americas

Americas

U.S. military chief dodges question on possible pause in Afghan withdrawal

10 December 2011 01:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Friday dodged on a question about whether the U.S. military is considering a pause before withdrawing more forces from Afghanistan, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

During an appearance at the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C., Dempsey said officials here and at U.S. Central Command are studying possible steps to take after the surge ends.

All commanders look at recommendations for future actions through the lens of today’s experiences, he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is privately recommending staving off new U.S. troop reductions until 2014.

Under President Barack Obama’s withdrawal plan, 10,000 U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of this year and another 23,000 will return home by September 2012. The ultimate goal is to transfer lead security responsibility to the Afghan forces by 2014.

"If missions change, if we establish milestones, if we reassess and make any changes, then a commander will do what he does," Dempsey said. "He’ll say, ’OK, if you want me to do that, here’s the troops-to-task analysis.’"

Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, Centcom commander, and Allen are in constant contact, he said, and they keep each other informed of any changes to their strategies.