WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s plan to withdraw half of American forces in Afghanistan:

“We all want American troops to come home. But how we bring them home matters.

“The drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan is a total reversal of the President’s South Asia strategy announced last year. He promised then that a drawdown would be ‘conditions-based.’ What conditions in Afghanistan have changed to precipitate such a major withdrawal? 

“This rash and poorly planned action is also a betrayal of our men and women in uniform, of our allies and partners who have fought alongside us for 17 years, and of the Afghan people. It will do nothing to further American efforts aimed at advancing peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government. 

“Like in Syria, North Korea, China, and elsewhere in the world, the Trump Administration has no plan in Afghanistan. Making foreign policy in this manner squanders our credibility with allies, allows adversaries including Russia and Iran to increase their influence, and undermines our standing in the world.”

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