Karzai says unworried by U.S. Afghan troop cuts - Plenty of US mercenaries

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6335103&cKey=1135173045000

KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he was unworried by U.S. plans to cut troop numbers in Afghanistan, and U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld played down concerns about NATO states' willingness to fill the gap.

Under pressure to cut U.S. troop commitments overseas in the face of difficulties in Iraq, Rumsfeld on Monday ordered a reduction in the number of American troops in Afghanistan to about 16,500 from the current 19,000 by next spring.

The first such cut since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Taliban was made possible by a planned increase in NATO peacekeepers there next year and the growing size of Afghan security forces, Rumsfeld and defence officials said.

Karzai told a joint news conference with Rumsfeld in Kabul he was not worried by the move, which he had discussed with the U.S. defence secretary and other senior U.S. officials.

[gratuitous]

1. Keep in mind, Hamid

Mercenaries are loyal to whoever is paying them, and money isn't necessarily the only way to a merc's treacherous black heart.

[SillyGoose]

2. Troop reduction in Afghanistan doesn't strike me as the smartest

move to make. The Taliban is gathering steam again. You would think knocking them out of the ballpark for good would be a big priority. Also, catching OBL, who is thought to be hiding in Afghanistan, might be something to consider since he is, after all, the guy who supposedly started this whole thing by attacking us on 9/11.

:think:

[pocket]

3. six of one

half a dozen of the other.