Trump macht Druck für schnelleren US-Truppenabzug aus Afghanistan (Nachtrag: Taliban)

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Angesichts der bevorstehenden Wahlen in den USA macht US-Präsident Donald Trump zunehmend Druck für einen schnellen Truppenabzug aus Afghanistan – auch gegen die Planungen seiner eigenen Regierungsmitarbeiter. Auf Twitter plädierte der Regierungschef für einen weitgehenden Abzug bis Weihnachten. Eine Umsetzung würde auch die Bundeswehr in ihrem Einsatz am Hindukusch empfindlich treffen.

Trump griff das Thema, wie vieles in seiner Regierungspolitik, in der Nacht zum (heutigen) Donnerstag via Twitter auf:

Nach einem Bericht der New York Times hatte dagegen Sicherheitsberater Robert C. O’Brien zuvor noch in Aussicht gestellt, nach einer Reduzierung der US-Truppen in Afghanistan auf 4.500 im November würden voraussichtlich Anfang kommenden Jahres noch 2.500 Soldaten am Hindukusch stationiert sein. Inwieweit diese Planungen nun durch Trumps öffentliche Aussage konterkariert werden, scheint bislang offen:

Asked about the tweet, a senior U.S. military official was silent for a moment before saying, “Oh my God!” The official said he was not aware of such a decision. (…)
The senior U.S. military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments, raised questions about the timing of the conflicting comments on troop cuts in Afghanistan from Mr. Trump and his adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, which came shortly before the vice-presidential debate started.

Noch im August hatten Außen- und Verteidigungsministerium in Berlin versichert, die von den USA beabsichtigte Truppenreduzierung auf unter 5.000 zum November habe auf den Einsatz der Bundeswehr in Afghanistan keine Auswirkungen:

Die kritischen Fähigkeiten der USA, sogenannte „Enabler“, stehen weiterhin zur Verfügung. Aus Sicht der Bundesregierung kann die Bundeswehr damit ihr Engagement im Rahmen der Speiche in Mazar-e Sharif ohne entscheidende Einschränkungen weiterführen.

Das kann sich nun natürlich ändern – wenn es mal Klarheit gibt, wie die USA nun tatsächlich agieren. Allerdings weiß ja bislang offensichtlich noch nicht mal das Pentagon, wie es  weitergeht.

Nachtrag: Die Taliban haben den Vorstoß des US-Präsidenten begrüßt, wie AP-Korrespondentin Kathy Gannon berichtet:

The Afghan Taliban on Thursday welcomed a tweet from President Donald Trump in which he promised to have the last of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Christmas. (…)
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said Trump’s statement was welcome and he considered it a positive step for the implementation of the peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban. The Taliban are “committed to the contents of the agreement and hope for good and positive relations with all countries, including the U.S, in the future,” he said.

Fürs Archiv ein weiterer Nachtrag: NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg wurde bei einer Pressekonferenz in Brüssel auch dazu gefragt, hier Frage und Antwort:

Question: What is your response to President Trump’s announcement, his tweets, that he plans to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by Christmas? Has this plan been drawn up in consultation with Allies?

Jens Stoltenberg: NATO is in Afghanistan to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for international terrorists. And we have to remember that the reason why NATO is in Afghanistan is an attack on the United States. When the United States was attacked on 9/11 2001, then NATO for the first time in our history invoked our collective defence clause, Article 5. And hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Europe, from Canada have served shoulder-to-shoulder with US soldiers in Afghanistan to prevent terrorists from once again controlling that country. And we are committed to our mission in Afghanistan because it is in our security interest to make sure that Afghanistan does not once again become a platform where terrorists can plan, organise and conduct terrorist attacks on our own countries. We support the peace process, and we welcome the talks between the government in Afghanistan and the Taliban. And as part of the peace effort, we have reduced our presence in Afghanistan. Not so long ago we had more than a hundred thousand troops in the big combat operation. And now we have roughly 12,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, and they support, they train, assist and advise the African security forces.
We will consult on the future or mission in Afghanistan. It is important that we coordinate our efforts; and out of the 12,000 troops, which are now in Afghanistan, a significant part of those are European troops (…) And then of course we have the American troops in addition, in addition. So this is really an effort of all allies and partners and our approach is a conditions based approach. We will make decisions based on the conditions on the ground, because we think it is extremely important to continue to be committed to the future of Afghanistan, because it is in our interest to preserve the long term security of Afghanistan.
We decided to go into Afghanistan together; we will make decisions on future adjustments together; and when the time is right, we will leave together. And this has been the message from NATO Allies for many, many years and it continues to be the message from NATO Allies.

(Archivbild November 2019: A U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk prepares to land at an undisclosed location in Southeastern Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2019. The helicopter is delivering Thanksgiving food to soldiers in a remote location that has no facilities for cooking – U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alex Manne)