Biden: Next July’s US troop drawdown in Afghanistan could be as few as ‘a couple of thousand’
By APSunday, July 18, 2010
Biden cautious about predicting Afghan troop cuts
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden is taking a more cautious approach when it comes to next summer’s planned military U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan.
He once predicted the drawdown next July would mean “a lot of people moving out.”
But he tells ABC’s “This Week” that the number of U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan “could be as few as a couple of thousand troops.”
President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan last December, bringing the U.S. total to about 100,000.
Biden says it’s too early to judge whether the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will succeed, but he says there is progress.
A record 103 NATO troops were killed in June, the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year-old war for international forces.
