Increase In Soldier Deaths Feared With Afghanistan Withdrawal

"The fighting will be intense as they leave and the planners expect the casualty rate will increase even as troop numbers are being reduced," a senior US defence department adviser told The Sunday Telegraph.

US Military Leaders Fear Afghanistan Withdrawal Will Increase Soldier Deaths -- The Telegraph

President Barack Obama's decision to order a bigger and speedier reduction in troop numbers than advised by his top military commanders will increase American casualties during the pull-out, Pentagon planners fear.

"The fighting will be intense as they leave and the planners expect the casualty rate will increase even as troop numbers are being reduced," a senior US defence department adviser told The Sunday Telegraph.

"That scares the cr-p out of people at the Pentagon."

Planners at the Joint Chiefs of Staff also believe that the announcement last week that a third of the 100,000 US personnel will be brought home by next autumn will lead to accelerated withdrawals by Nato allies – a trend that would in turn increase public pressure in the US for even more US forces to leave.

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My Comment: The war in Afghanistan has been expanding and accelerating with each passing year .... a trend that I expect will continue this year and next's. So while withdrawing forces may make sense in the White House, the soldiers on the ground know that their backup and support will be decreasing and further away in the event that they are attacked and/or targeted by Taliban forces. Our allies will also use this American withdrawal as an excuse for them to withdraw .... further exacerbating this lack of boots on the ground to counter Taliban influence and strength.