- Defense officials blast new plan for US troops in Afghanistan
Young Afghans rebelling against the traditional daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have been turning to secretive cafes in the capital willing to risk serving lunch. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
[M]any in the Pentagon are concerned that the president’s new plan isn’t much of a strategy at all. It’s just a holding action, to hopefully keep a lid on Afghanistan until after the election. – The Daily Beast
Republicans welcomed President Obama's decision to shelve his plan to halve the 9,800-strong U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, but questioned why he is reducing the force by even 1,400. – The Hill
Members of Congress expressed concern Wednesday that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan can only be maintained by deploying incomplete units -- a practice that is eroding readiness, according to an Army general. – Military.com
The Obama administration's Afghanistan troop limit is costing the Army an additional $100 million per year, according to a top U.S. Army general, because the services are hiring contractors so they can rely less on troops. – Washington Examiner
During the nearly 15 years since the United States went to war in Afghanistan, the number of American troops there spiraled to 100,000, then dropped slightly below 10,000. President Barack Obama had planned to drop the number to 5,500 by the end of this year. Now he has decided to leave about 8,400 through the end of his presidency. A timeline of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan – Associated Press
Interview: The Cipher Brief conducted an exclusive interview with former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, to discuss his thoughts on the President’s announcement – The Cipher Brief
Editorial: For now, Mr. Obama has done the minimum to ensure that 15 years of U.S. investment and sacrifices in Afghanistan, including 2,300 military deaths, do not end in catastrophe during his presidency. His successor would do well to learn both from this president’s mistakes — including his attempt to end the war on an arbitrary timetable — and from his political courage in correcting them. – Washington Post
Mario Loyola writes: Political reconciliation was always the ultimate goal of the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan — the only way to make durable the gains from our soldiers’ sacrifices. But whereas the military tends to see victory for the U.S. and its allies as the only path to a lasting political settlement, Obama seems to believe that winning wars and achieving political reconciliation are contradictory aims. – National Review Online
- US shifts to eastern Afghanistan, uses new authority to strike Taliban