A gradual but flexible withdrawal from Afghanistan to meet the agreed deadline of 2014, after which no more fighting troops should remain. The first stage of the exit strategy took place in July 2011, with the first go-ahead for the withdrawal. This was the outline plan sought by the United States, the senior partner in ISAF, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, and approved by NATO at the Lisbon Summit on 20 November 2010.
Along with the withdrawal of NATO troops, the plan also envisages a gradual handover by NATO of entire provinces or districts, or even smaller territorial units, to the Afghan administration. The units deemed ready for hand-over will be chosen on a case-by-case basis by the government in Kabul, in agreement with the foreign forces and on the basis of the security parameters attained there.
The Americans began the phased withdrawal of its (at that time) 130,000 servicemen and –women in July 2011, with the departure of 650 members of the Iowa National Guard. The first stage, which saw 10,000 servicemen and –women leave Afghanistan, was completed by the end of the year.
A new stage by the end of summer 2012
The plan now is for 33,000 US military to be withdrawn by the end of summer 2012, a figure that more or less equates to the reinforcements that Barack Obama obtained from the US Congress in December 2009. This will bring the total contingent to around 68,000 by year-end. After 2014 the Americans plan to leave no more than 25,000 solders in the country. Once the handover of control to the Government in Kabul has been completed, the US forces will have a training and protection role and possibly the task of supporting the Afghans’ military actions. At present, according to the official ISAF site, the US still have about 95,000 troops on the ground.
As for the other contingents, including the Italian force of 3,800, NATO has asked for any substantial withdrawals to be held back until 2014. But the second country in terms of troop numbers, the United Kingdom, with 9500 military personnel, is already considering a substantial withdrawal by the end of 2013, of perhaps 4000 troops. According to figures provided in April 2012 by the Afghan Defence Minister, Mohammed Zahir Azimi, the Afghan forces at presence amount to 330,000 men, of whom at least 195,000 military.
Recognition for Italy’s contribution, says Terzi
“Both Italy’s international partners and the Afghan population have been unanimous in their appreciation of the role played by our country in Afghanistan. Thanks to our contribution, goals that just 10 years ago seemed impossible have been achieved: we need only think that 69 women now sit in Parliament”. These were some of the comments made by Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, in his address to the joint Chamber and Senate Committees in the run-up to the NATO Summit in Chicago on 20-21 May 2012.
The results achieved through the Italian contribution and cited by the Foreign Minister include “the approval of a Constitution that recognises equal treatment of men and women; the fact that 7 million children – 38% of them girls – now attend school, compared with just 900,000 – all of them boys – under the Taliban; and that 19.3% of university students are women”. Moreover, he added, “the health service now reaches 64% of the population, compared with just 8% ten years ago”.