Historical experience shows that whenever the United States occupies a country, it remains there and tries to establish a permanent military presence.

By signing long-term strategic treaties with the country and providing military, tactical, and logistical assistance, the U.S. tries to normalize the continuation of its military presence. To realize this goal, the U.S. starts establishing numerous military bases in the target country.
After almost ten years of occupation, this deceitful policy is now being implemented in Afghanistan. Over the past decade, the U.S. has built new structures in the country, paving the way for a long-term military presence. In fact, the plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is a prelude to the establishment of permanent military bases in the country and eventually for an attempt to control the military equations in the region for a much longer period of time.
However, to decrease its military problems, the U.S. needs to reduce its troop levels in Afghanistan. In the current plan, the withdrawal is restricted to the 30,000 troops that were deployed to the Central Asian nation last year.
The current situation of U.S. military forces in the region and the rising cost of the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan increase the necessity to withdraw some of these troops, especially since many are suffering from psychological and physical problems.
Public opinion in the U.S. is also opposed to the extension of the military presence in Afghanistan. And since Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is now dead, U.S. officials have no rational justification for continuing the occupation of Afghanistan.
Thus, the rising cost of the military operations and the battle fatigue of U.S. troops are the main reasons behind Washington’s recent decision to withdraw some of its forces from Afghanistan.
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration and their Republican supporters for not paying enough attention to Afghanistan due to the occupation of Iraq. Based on this argument, after entering the White House, Obama prioritized Afghanistan and increased the number of U.S. forces in the country.
Last year, over 30,000 U.S. troops were deployed to Afghanistan, which strengthened the position of the U.S. military in remote tribal areas of the country. The number of NATO forces was also increased in response to a request by the United States.
However, the withdrawal of some U.S. troops from Afghanistan will do nothing for the poor Afghans because the occupation will continue. The only ones who will benefit from this new policy are Barack Obama and the members of his Democratic Party, whose chances of winning the next U.S. presidential election will be improved.
Hossein Alayi is a university professor and military analyst based in Tehran.