New York Magazine features a recently released report by Zalmay Khalilzad Chair on Afghanistan and Resident Senior Fellow James B. Cunningham discussing why the US force levels in Afghanistan should be maintained close to current levels:
As the Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports that President Obama is considering backing off his plan to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from the country by the end of his presidency. Several anonymous senior officials within the Obama White House told the New YorkTimes that the president appears “increasingly willing” to keep a several-thousand-member fighting force within Afghanistan, one tasked with countering Al Qaeda and Islamic State militants.