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NATO to Keep Bases in Afghanistan Open
| Wall Street Journal | - |
BRUSSELS—The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization will keep all six of its bases in
Afghanistan operational next year, postponing a plan to reduce the
number and allowing the alliance to maintain its current level of
training and support for Afghan ...
NATO to Keep Bases in Afghanistan Open
Decision leaves possibility of U.S. maintaining higher troop levels than planned
ENLARGE
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke Wednesday in Brussels after a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
Photo:
VIRGINIA MAYO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Before the decision, the alliance had been expected to reduce the number of Afghan bases from six to two, at Kabul and Bagram. The move leaves the door open for the U.S. to keep a higher level of troops than currently planned in Afghanistan.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that U.S. troop levels were not a focus of discussion at a NATO meeting in Brussels. Mr. Carter said he expects Mr. Obama will look at troop levels as the year goes on. “He has expressed a willingness to do that,” Mr. Carter said.
Officials said that the current “hub-and-spoke” system of six military bases, with Kabul and Bagram serving as the hubs, could be maintained even if the U.S. draws down as planned by the Obama administration.
But keeping forces at or near the current level, which includes including 9,800 U.S. troops, would make sustaining the current bases easier. The U.S. has been planning to cut its forces to 5,500 troops at the end of the year.
“No one want to see the spokes collapse,” British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said. “I think we are all aware of the fragility of the Afghan forces. They are fighting hard but taking very heavy casualties.”
NATO had previously planned to shut the regional bases and consolidate its remaining forces in Kabul at the end of this year.
Keeping the regional bases open, U.S. officials have said, is critical to keeping counterterrorism operations at a high level. Mr. Carter said keeping the current bases in Afghanistan will allow the U.S. to provide other allies with military support, such as logistics, transportation and medical assistance.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that allies agreed that the current network of bases would give the alliance flexibility. “We will continue to advise and train the Afghan forces,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.
Terror groups in Afghanistan, Mr. Fallon said, pose a direct threat to the West.
Mr. Fallon said alliance support for Afghanistan is also necessary because if the government was to fall, the level of migration from the country would vastly increase.
“If Afghan collapses we will see massive further migration,” he said.
While some allies have said they hope the U.S. will make a decision on revising its planned drawdown in time for a Warsaw summit in July, other diplomats said they expect a decision later in the year.
A senior NATO diplomat noted that the U.S. has regularly reviewed and adjusted its plans for troop drawdown plans.
“If it is not sufficient, there is a track record that the administration will adjust,” the official said.
The U.S. currently provides forces in the south and east of Afghanistan. The Italian military has the lead in the west and Germany in the north.
