In Brief: Next Steps in the War in Afghanistan. Issues for Congress.

摘要

On May 1, 2012, President Obama gave a speech from Bagram Air Field in which he laid out U.S. government approaches for winding down the war in Afghanistan.1 While a number of observers have challenged the logical plausibility of a unilateral decision to wind down a war, the Administration s commitment to decreasing U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan is clear. As of mid-2012, many observers point to a coalescing vision of the way forward shared by the governments of the United States, Afghanistan, and other international partners that includes bringing the current campaign to a close by the end of 2014, and pursuing a political settlement among the parties in conflict, while extending U.S. and other international commitments to Afghanistan beyond 2014. In evaluating this emerging vision, some observers emphasize that the overall level of ambition has been lowered, while others stress that the timeline for international engagement has been extended.