Pentagon officials announced earlier this week that thousands of U.S. troops would be leaving Afghanistan before President Donald Trump leaves office in January. Here to debate this controversial decision in a Point/Counterpoint format is Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of all American and international forces in Afghanistan at a press conference in 2012, and retired Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of all American and international forces in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013 who now heads the Brookings Institution, an influential think tank in Washington, D.C. 

Point: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to give a brief statement. I’ve been heartened by the overwhelming international commitment to Afghanistan and in particular, the Afghan national security forces that the United States has been training for more than a decade to fight for their own country so that we can leave. And I believe the recent NATO summit sent an unmistakable message to the world: that we’re committed to the Afghan people; and to the Taliban, you cannot wait us out.