Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has been on the job for less than a week but he’s already making moves that will have severe repercussions and leaving Joe Biden to deal with the fall out.
Miller announced on Tuesday that the U.S. would draw its troop levels in both Afghanistan and Iraq down to 2,500 by Jan. 15, 2021, five days before President-elect Biden is sworn into office.
Currently there are approximately 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 troops in Iraq.
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Last week, Trump fired his Defense Secretary Mark Esper because he was not supportive of Trump’s premature withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, according to CNN.
Senate Majority leader, Mitch McConnell blasted the move on Monday saying that a “rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan now would hurt our allies and delight the people who wish us harm.”
“The consequences of a premature American exit would likely be even worse than President Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq back in 2011, which fueled the rise of ISIS and a new round of global terrorism,” McConnell said.
