Obama Extends US Presence in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama plans to extend the U.S. military role in Afghanistan past 2016.

White House officials say Obama now plans to keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, even after he leaves office, and hand off the conflict to his successor.

Thursday, the president is outlining plans to maintain the current force of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year, then draw down to 5,500 troops in 2017, at a pace still to be determined by commanders.

Obama had promised to end the war on his watch, but military advisers say the troops are needed to push back a resurgence of the Taliban.

Taliban fighters took control of the key northern city of Kunduz late last month, prompting a protracted battle with Afghan forces on the ground, supported by U.S. airstrikes.

And U.S. commanders have also expressed concern about Islamic State fighters moving into the country and gaining recruits from within the Taliban.

U.S. military leaders had argued for months that the Afghans needed additional assistance and support from the United States to beat back the renewed Taliban threat and hold onto gains made after 14 years of American bloodshed and billions of dollars in aid.

"The narrative that we're leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday. "We're not, we can't, and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we've had to date."

The president did withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in late 2011, a moment he heralded as a promise kept to a war-weary nation.

But that left a power vaccum that contributed to the rise of the brutal Islamic State which drew the U.S. military back into Iraq last year to train and assist local security forces and launch airstrikes.

Obama announced the end of the Afghan war with similar fanfare last spring, saying it was time for the U.S. to "turn the page" on more than a decade of deadly conflicts.

But the subsequent surge in Taliban violence has proven his remarks were premature.