Reuters quotes Zalmay Khalilzad Chair on Afghanistan and Resident Senior Fellow James B. Cunningham on how developments on the ground may have changed thinking on President Obama’s recent decision to maintain troop levels in Afghanistan:
Obama’s desire to withdraw from the country before leaving office was understandable but he made the right call by changing his mind, given developments on the ground, said one of the authors, James Cunningham. Cunningham was ambassador to the Afghanistan from 2012 to the end of 2014 and is now with the Atlantic Council think tank.
“The question has always been whether that’s a realistic goal, and whether it will create a dangerous situation if we actually do that,” he said in an interview.