
President Obama announced today a delay in the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that troop levels in the country would remain at 9,800 through most of 2016 and be reduced to 5,500 either by the end of next year or in early 2017. Back in March, when Obama similarly announced a shift in how quickly the U.S. would be leaving Afghanistan, we published a chart comparing the number of troops in the country with the administration’s stated withdrawal timelines. Above is an updated version of that chart after today’s announcement.