In A Secret Order President Obama Has Expanded The U.S. Combat Role in Afghanistan For Another Year

President Barack Obama addresses the nation from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, May 1, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In Secret, Obama Extends U.S. Role in Afghan Combat -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed a secret order in recent weeks authorizing a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year.

Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year, according to several administration, military and congressional officials with knowledge of the decision. The new authorization also allows American jets, bombers and drones to support Afghan troops on combat missions.
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In an announcement in the White House Rose Garden in May, Mr. Obama said that the American military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year, and that the missions for the 9,800 troops remaining in the country would be limited to training Afghan forces and to hunting the “remnants of Al Qaeda.”

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My Comment: The collapse of the Iraq state in the face of a Sunni insurgency is probably the single most important event to have changed President Obama's mind on what to do in Afghanistan. The fact that former Afghan President Karzai is now gone has also probably it easier for President Obama to make the decision to expand the U.S. mission, and to work more closely with the new Afghan government.