Obama Slows Afghan Troop Withdrawal

President Obama “has decided to slow the pace of the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan in response to a request from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, leaving roughly 10,000 American forces in place through the end of the year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The U.S. had planned to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan to nearly 5,000 this year.”

New York Times: “The announcement was not unexpected. Administration officials had strongly suggested in recent days that Mr. Obama would agree to slow the pace of the troop withdrawal.”