Pentagon: U.S. Troop Tally in Afghanistan Larger Than We Previously Reported
Approximately 11,000 troops actually in Afghanistan—roughly 2,600 more than the officially released total.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it has approximately 11,000 troops in Afghanistan, about 2,600 more than the officially released total of 8,400. The accounting change, said spokesperson Dana White, reverses an Obama-era practice that excluded short-duration missions, partial-unit deployments and other elisions. With a more accurate total of the current force levels in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will now turn to a decision on a troop increase in America’s longest war, following an August 21 strategic announcement by President Trump blessing a plus-up. White and the Joint Staff director, Marine Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie, heralded the new accounting as a win for “transparency,” but indicated that it will remain approximate for “operational security” reasons. And it remains unclear if the same accounting will apply for troop levels in Iraq and Syria, where the Obama-era Pentagon frequently under-disclosed the true size of the force commitment.
—Spencer Ackerman
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.