AUGUSTA, Maine — President Barack Obama’s announcement Thursday that he plans to slow the withdrawal of the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan will have little immediate effect on Maine National Guard units, but they will be ready if called upon, an official said.
“While there are no units from the Maine Air National Guard nor Maine Army National Guard deployed to the region, we remain fully trained and prepared to mobilize wherever and whenever we are needed,” Maj. Norm Stickney, spokesman for the Maine National Guard, said Thursday in an email. “During these times of global turmoil and uncertainty, the citizens of Maine can rest assured that the Maine National Guard is always ready.”
Obama’s plan will keep the force of about 9,800 soldiers in Afghanistan through most of 2016, with reductions beginning the following year.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, said Obama made the right choice to abandon his pledge to bring the majority of troops home before he leaves office.
“The president has made a difficult decision, but it is the right one,” King said in a news release. “Over the past few years, with the assistance of U.S. and coalition military forces, the new unity Afghan government has worked to bring greater stability to the country and forge significant progress in improving the lives of Afghan citizens.
“To reduce our forces in order to meet an arbitrary deadline would have been a mistake and could have jeopardized that progress,” said King, who traveled to Afghanistan last year. “I am encouraged by the president’s decision and will continue to evaluate how the U.S. can play a constructive role in Afghanistan that also supports our shared security interests.”
King has advocated for the U.S. to withdraw its military forces in Afghanistan on a conditions-based timeline as the unity government, led by President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah, continues to implement its reform agenda and make progress that is in the interest of all Afghans, the King news release states.
During his Afghanistan trip, King meet with Ghani and Abdullah and “discussed economic and security challenges and explored ways the U.S. could work with the Afghanistan government to sustain progress,” the release states.
Obama previously intended to cut the total number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 9,800 to about 5,500 by 2016. Under that plan, only a small force of about 1,000 troops would have been left in place to guard the U.S. Embassy by the time a new president was sworn into office in 2017.
Reuters contributed to this article.