Speaking to NPR (National Public Radio-USA), U.S joint chiefs of staff,
General Mark Milley said on Sunday, “We have a plan, a series of
responsible drawdown options that have been briefed to the president”.

“I’m not going to go into specific numbers for the future. I think that
would not be appropriate for me as the chairman to talk specific numbers
in future operations, we typically don’t do that. But we have a
responsible plan to end the war with US interests clearly in mind, as you
know, we the United States government signed an agreement on 28 February,”
he said.

Pointing the U.S had around 12000 Soldiers in Afghanistan amid February
U.S-Taliban peace negotiations.

General Milley added, “That came down to, call it 8,500, 8,600 or so by
mid-summer, and we’re on a plan to do a responsible, deliberate drawdown
to about 4,500 here very shortly. And then future drawdowns will be
determined by the president. And I’m not going to disclose specific
numbers and what those are. The whole agreement and all of the drawdown
plans are conditions-based, and I expect that we’ll have further
discussions on the conditions and ensure that they warrant.”

Over the high level of violence in the country, he said, “we’re monitoring
all of those conditions closely. And we’re, we the military, are giving our
best military advice on those conditions so that the president can make an
informed, deliberate, responsible decision.”

“So, what I want to make sure is that we’re going through a high degree of
rigor and providing good analysis for the president to make a responsible,
deliberate decision,” he said.

Previously, on October 8th President Trump had tweeted, “We should have
the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in
Afghanistan home by Christmas!”

Hours after the president’s tweet, (Reuters) Trump’s NSA advisor O’Brien
in an event at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said “Ultimately, the
Afghans themselves are going to have to work out an accord, a peace
agreement. … It’s going to be slow progress, it’s going to be hard
progress, but we think it’s a necessary step. we think Americans need to
come home.”