US Risks Slipping Back into Combat Role in Afghanistan - Ex-DoD Official

Sending more US troops to Afghanistan could draw the United States into a combat role unless a final end game is clearly defined, former US Department of Defense official Lawrence Korb told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Wednesday, US Commander in Afghanistan General John Campbell said he may seek to boost the US military presence in Afghanistan to ensure the Defense Department can effectively train Afghan security forces to fight the Taliban.

"Well, yeah, obviously there is," Korb said on Wednesday when asked if there was a risk the US could get drawn into combat. "But whether it’s [President Barack] Obama or whoever follows him… at some point you are going to have to leave."

The United States needs to ask itself, Korb explained, why it needs more troops in Afghanistan considering the Taliban are unlikely to attack the US homeland, not to mention the US military has been unsuccessful in effectively training Afghan forces.

"We have never been very successful in training militaries to fight for us. If you go back to Vietnam, it didn’t work out too well. It didn’t work out too well in Iraq and in Afghanistan," he claimed.

Last week, the United Kingdom deployed a group of military personnel to the Helmand province after Afghan government forces recently suffered a defeat to the Taliban. The US Defense Department said that the purpose of the deployment is to train local security forces.