US/NATO Combat Mission in Afghanistan Ceremonially Over, Wars Continue

In a
ceremonial move NATO closed its operational command
headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan today, lowering its flags to
signal the end of the “combat mission.” On January 1, U.S and NATO
troops will transition to a “support” role for training. Meanwhile
the Taliban’s campaign in Afghanistan continues, with militants
attacking a police station in the south.

According to the bilateral security agreement
signed the day after Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as president of
Afghanistan, 9,800 U.S. troops and 2,000 NATO troops will remain
after the end of the year.

U.S. forces will also continue combat missions against the
Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and associated extremists. Importantly, these
troops will
retain immunity from Afghan law.

The refusal of the Iraqi government in 2008 to include such a
provision in the status of forces agreement prevented 
continued U.S. military operations in that country. Nevertheless,
when the war in Iraq ended in 2011, President Obama took credit for
it, continuing to do so
throughout the campaign trail, disowning it
only as Iraq slipped back into chaos and U.S. troops
returned.

The U.S. began deploying military personnel back into
Iraq on June 16, and began air operations again over
Iraq on September 10, and then over Syria
on September 22. U.S. operations in Yemen, meanwhile, appear to
have
evolved into ground raids. The president’s
most recent war powers report, from June, also places military
personnel in Somalia, Niger, and Chad, on various counter-terrorism
efforts including the rescue of more than 200 schoolgirls captured
by Islamist militants in Nigeria earlier in the year. The U.S. also
has fighter aircraft and Patriot missile systems deployed in Jordan
since 2013.

Check out Reason‘s foreign policy issue here.