Pentagon finally comes clean on Afghanistan troop levels
By WESLEY MORGAN
08/30/2017 04:26 PM EDT
The Pentagon revealed Wednesday there are some 2,600 more American troops in Afghanistan than it previously acknowledged — approximately 11,000, not the longtime public figure of 8,400.
“The number 11,000 is an approximation. It may be slightly above that, it may be slightly below that, it will certainly vary,” Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, Jr., the director of the Joint Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon.
That figure has been “the reality over the last six months or so,” he added.
The admission comes after mounting scrutiny of the Pentagon's so-called Force Management Level policy, which has downplayed the full size of U.S. military contingents to stay beneath caps in Afghanistan as well as Iraq and Syria, where the full numbers remain classified.
The new Afghanistan figure does not include any of the additional troops President Donald Trump has authorized as part of the revamped strategy he announced last week.
“No troops have started to flow. No deployment orders have been issued,” McKenzie said of the reinforcements, which could reach as many as 3,900. “Should that number change significantly," he said, "we will come back in here to tell you that.”
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/30/afghanistan-troop-levels-trump-242186
