The US Secretary of Defense announces the imminent withdrawal of US from the Middle East

The new acting US Defense Secretary, Christopher Miller, has expressed his intention to accelerate the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the Middle East, saying, “It is time to return home”. 

“All wars must end,” Miller said, in his first message to the US armed forces since President Donald Trump appointed him Monday as acting defense secretary.

He stressed that the United States is determined to defeat al Qaeda, 19 years after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and that it is “on the verge of defeating” the organization. 

“Many are tired of the war, and I am one of them,” he wrote in a message on the Ministry of Defense website. 

“But it is the crucial stage in which we transform our efforts from a leadership role to a supportive one,” he added. 

“Ending wars requires concessions and partnership. 

We faced the challenge. 

And we did everything we could. 

Now is the time to go home”.

Miller did not specifically mention the locations of the troop deployments, but the reference to al Qaeda appeared to hint at Afghanistan and Iraq, where the United States sent troops in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Miller, a former U.S. Special Forces officer and counterterrorism expert, was appointed by Trump to head the Defense Department after Mark Esper was fired. 

Trump, who lost to Democrat Joe Biden in the November 3 elections, has been making unremitting efforts to withdraw US forces from the two countries since he took office four years ago. 

Any such step must take place within 66 days, that is, before Biden takes office on January 20.

Esper had reduced troop numbers in Afghanistan by about two-thirds following a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban on February 29. 

But he said he would keep many at 4,500 after this month, until the Taliban, which are negotiating with the government in Kabul, committed to reducing violence as promised. 

Trump, however, sought a further troop reduction, writing in a tweet that he wanted the soldiers “home by Christmas” on December 25.

His national security adviser Robert O’Brien has announced that the goal is to reduce the number of 2,500 troops by February. 

But critics say this prevents any influence over the Taliban insurgents to halt relentless attacks, amid little progress in peace talks with the Afghan government.