A public dispute between National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Army Gen. Mark Milley ramped up this Friday over the U.S. military's presence in Afghanistan, less than a week after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said conflicting messages from the White House about a possible future withdrawal was "speculation," US News reports.
"That is not speculation," O'Brien said on Friday. "That is the order of the commander in chief."
Recent reports say that President Trump is looking to begin withdrawing troops from certain parts of the region, regardless of the consequences on the ground.
"Earlier this month, O'Brien said the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would drop from its current level of roughly 4,500 down to 2,500 by early next year," US News reports. "Trump tweeted shortly afterward that the U.S. 'should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!' leading many to interpret that post as an order for a full withdrawal by the end of the year – as the president has done previously regarding other conflict zones, like Syria."
Responding to Milley saying he was just speculating, O'Brien said, "When I'm speaking, I speak for the president. I think that's what the Pentagon is doing."
"I think what the president was doing is he was expressing the same desire I think every president since the Revolutionary War has said. All presidents want all troops, all GIs, home by Christmas," O'Brien said, adding that "if the conditions permit it, we'd love to get out earlier. That's the desire the president was expressing."
Read the full report over at US News.
