US withdrawal from Afghanistan more than half done, but questions remain

 The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is more than half done, and US officials say that while it could be completed by July 4, final exit of equipment and troops more likely will be later in the summer

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is more than half done, and US officials say that while it could be completed by July 4, the final exit of equipment and troops more likely will be later in the summer. As early as this week, the top US commander for the Middle East, Gen. Frank McKenzie, will give Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin a range of military options for securing the US embassy in Afghanistan and providing counterterrorism support from outside the country once the withdrawal is complete, officials said.

The number of American troops needed for the overall security missions inside Afghanistan will depend on a variety of requirements, and could range from roughly a couple hundred to a bit less than 1,000, officials said. McKenzie’s deliberations are a reminder that much about US postwar support for Afghanistan remains uncertain, including how to protect Afghans who worked with the US government from reprisals and how to avoid an intelligence void that could hamper US early warning of extremist threats inside Afghanistan.

At stake is not just a political verdict on President /‘s judgment about the risk posed by renewed instability in Afghanistan, but also the legacy of an American war that was launched 20 years ago in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and that imperceptibly morphed into what Biden calls this forever war.