The US army has been fighting the war in Afghanistan for nearly 13 years now and the Obama Administration has recently announced its possible plans to withdraw from said war.  If the government follows through with this plan, no troops would be kept in Afghanistan after 2014.

Regarding the possibility of U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan, Obama said it depends “on whether we have a bilateral security agreement signed by the Afghani government, to assure our rights of our troops and other important elements that are required any time America has troops in another country.”

If the decision is made to remove the troops and completely withdraw from the war, it should be done with extreme caution and preparation.  If the situation is not handled safely, it could cause problems within Afghanistan.

It may sound appealing to have our troops home safe and sound, but it could mean the opposite for the Afghani people.  According to a Pakistani official, this could lead to an all-out civil war in Afghanistan.

The current president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is hesitant to sign a deal allowing the United States to withdraw.  His possible successor, on the other hand, may disagree.

According to CNN, “Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said he would sign the deal to keep international forces in Afghanistan, and aid dollars flowing, if elected in April.”

The longer the agreement to be signed, the more complicated it will get for the United States government to plan an extraction of all troops after 2014.  A bilateral security agreement would make things safer and more secure for the US and Afghanistan.

Chairman of the foreign relations committee, Robert Menendez said, “For us to continue to have US troops in Afghanistan, even at a diminished number, we need a bilateral security agreement.  We need to ensure that the troops that will be there… continue to sustain the stability of their country and their democracy.”

The best way to go about this is to do it little by little, at the same time, still reaching the government’s goal of withdrawing by the end of 2014.  Complete and total withdrawal of US troops may be extreme in just one year, especially with the withdrawal of British troops quickening.

“The pace of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan could quicken next year because military commanders have changed their views about how many troops need to remain to help local security forces fight the Taliban,” according to The Guardian.

Most militaries involved have been rethinking the number of troops are truly needed to fight in the war.  Views have changed according to what the governments see fit.  The only government stopping the US is Afghanistan’s, but it may not last.