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Tag: Middle East
Pros and Cons of Pulling Troops From Afghanistan
In November 2020, the Trump administration announced that it would reduce U.S. military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during the president’s final days in office. Christopher Miller, then-acting secretary of defense, said that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan would drop from 4,500 to 2,500 and troop levels in Iraq would reduce from 3,000 to 2,500 by Jan. 15, 2021. The move received a mixed response. Some lawmakers praised the plan as a key step in the larger push to unwind the U.S. military’s nearly 20-year involvement in the two countries, while others said it could be a security risk given…
Obama Addresses UN General Assembly
“These are extraordinary times, with extraordinary opportunities,” President Barack Obama told the United Nations on Tuesday as part of the opening proceedings of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly. In his 50-minute address, President Obama focused on the Middle East, a region of the world that has been at the center of U.S. foreign policy in recent months. He urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution addressing Syria’s use of chemical weapons, stating: “If we cannot agree even on this, then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws. …
UN Security Council Passes New Syria Resolution
On March 21, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to issue a presidential statement calling on the Syrian government and opposition forces to cease hostilities and implement a peace plan proposed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan, who is currently serving as the joint special envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian Crisis, first presented his proposal during a visit to Damascus, Syria, earlier in March. It is comprised of six points: Syria commits to working with Annan to address the legitimate “aspirations and concerns” of the Syrian people. Syria stops fighting…