U.S. to remain in Afghanistan after Obama

Date: May 27, 2014

Source: New York Times
Story: U.S. Troops to Leave Afghanistan by End of 2016

WASHINGTON — President Obama, declaring that it was “time to turn the page on a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” announced on Tuesday that he planned to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016. 

Under a new timetable outlined by Mr. Obama in the Rose Garden, the 32,000 American troops now in Afghanistan would be reduced to 9,800 after this year. 

That number would be cut in half by the end of 2015, and by the end of 2016, there would be only a vestigial force to protect the embassy in Kabul and to help the Afghans with military purchases and other security matters. 

Date: July 6, 2016
Source: The Blaze
Story: Obama to Leave 8,400 Troops in Afghanistan Through End of Administration

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he plans to increase to around 8,400 the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office. 

The numbers reflect a compromise between Obama’s original plan and what many military commanders had recommended. 

Obama had planned to drop troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 troops by the end of 2016. But Taliban resurgence has forced Washington to rethink its exit strategy.

I don't suppose the "Taliban resurgence" is due to the continued presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan? I won't say the Taliban will disappear if we leave, but maybe they would not find recruiting so easy if we weren't there.

But I guess if you like American troops in Afghanistan, you can keep them there...