Ashton Carter, U.S. Defense Chief, Makes Unannounced Visit to Afghanistan By MUJIB MASHAL in The NY Times, Dec 9, 2016

KABUL, Afghanistan — On his last planned trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter on Friday said that the United States remained committed to the country even as the war here has worsened.
The unannounced visit by Mr. Carter was part of his “round-the-world trip to thank deployed U.S. troops for their service over the holidays” as well as meet with allies, the Pentagon said in a statement.
In Afghanistan, Mr. Carter’s remarks were seen as an attempt to quell concerns over how the transition in Washington could affect the American presence here at a time when the Afghan forces, which have taken heavy losses, have shown the need for sustained help.
Even with the Taliban threatening major cities and Islamic State affiliates gaining a foothold in Afghanistan, the war did not feature much as an issue during the United States presidential campaign. And with his security team still forming, President-elect Donald J. Trump has disclosed little about how he will tackle a conflict that remains a bloody stalemate even as the war enters its 16th year.
In a brief news conference with President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, Mr. Carter said the United States and its allies were committed to a stable Afghanistan, maintaining the military advisory and counterterror mission and holding to their pledges of about $5 billion in annual support to Afghanistan until 2020.
“The United States’ presence, continued support to Afghan forces and the strategic partnership with the government of Afghanistan demonstrates to the world that America is and will remain committed to a sovereign and secure Afghanistan,” Mr. Carter said.
Domestically, Mr. Ghani’s government, which is nominally built around a power-sharing agreement with his election rival Abdullah Abdullah, has been hobbled by dysfunction and political infighting even as the security situation has worsened. But Mr. Carter focused more on how the current Afghan government has served as a cooperative ally to the United States. And during the men’s joint appearance, Mr. Ghani praised American assistance to his country.
“The forces of the United States have helped us shoulder to shoulder and have stood with us,” Mr. Ghani said at the news conference.
About 9,800 American troops remain in Afghanistan, down from a peak of about 100,000 during the early years of the Obama administration. Their roles include a counterterrorism mission against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, and the training and advising of Afghan troops as part of a larger NATO mission.
Mr. Carter, who was accompanied by his wife, Stephanie, met with American troops at Bagram Air Base, the site of a suicide attack on Nov. 12 that killed two American service members and two American contractors. A third soldier died of his wounds from the attack at Walter Reed hospital on Dec. 6.
As the Taliban have pushed the limits of Afghan forces over the past two years, overrunning districts and threatening crucial provincial centers, American advisers have found themselves drawn back to the front lines, with the line between combat and counsel increasingly blurred.
Afghan and Western officials fear that the vast ungoverned space in Afghanistan could once again turn into a terrorist safe haven. Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has said that Afghanistan and Pakistan host the highest concentration of terrorist groups in the world, with about 20 of the 98 United Nations- and United States-designated terrorist groups operating in the region.
Those groups include remnants of Al Qaeda, which has small pockets of operatives in east and southeastern Afghanistan, and affiliates of the Islamic State, which have established a foothold in eastern Afghanistan and are trying to bring violence to urban centers through suicide attacks that largely target civilians.
President-elect Trump has chosen Gen. James N. Mattis, a former chief of the United States Central Command who has played leading roles in both the Afghan and Iraq wars, to succeed Mr. Carter as defense secretary. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/world/asia/us-defense-chief-ashton-carter-afghanistan.html?ref=asia