WASHINGTON, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – The newly-elected Afghan government must eliminate corruption and rule more competently than the previous regime after NATO drawdown, otherwise it will only empower the insurgents, former Ambassador to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen has told RIA Novosti.
"We [US] will be there helping but the Ghani-Abdullah government [in Afghanistan] will need to do better than [former Afghan President Hamid] Karzai in terms of maintaining political stability and not fueling the insurgency through corruption, incompetence and an inability to provide basic services," Tomsen said Monday, referring to the new administration of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
The US Marine Corps and UK combat forces officially ended military operations in Afghanistan on Sunday morning as the last military bases were handed off to Afghan troops, according to the US Department of Defense.
Tomsen indicated that this did not mean the US military was totally withdrawing from Afghanistan – it was simply transitioning from full combat operations to an advisory and support role.
Following the 13-year war aimed at dismantling the al-Qaeda terrorist network, US President Barack Obama in May announced that US forces would complete drawdown from Afghanistan by the end of 2016. By early 2015 the United States would drawdown to 9,800 service members who would be responsible for advising Afghan forces and sustaining counterterrorism operations, according to the US president.
