GOP presidential candidates criticized Obama's revision of the drawdown from Afghanistan, saying that the nearly 10,000 Americans who will stay there through most of 2016 is not sufficient to maintain stability in the country.
Still, they offered few specifics on what they would do differently if elected as the next commander in chief.
They joined a growing chorus of Republicans in Congress who have also said the president's new plan will not be enough to continue both the counterterrorism and training missions in the country.
The president announced earlier this week that 9,800 U.S. troops would stay in Afghanistan through most of 2016, at which point the troop level would drop to about 5,500 into 2017. The original plan had been to have only about 1,000 U.S. personnel in Iraq to protect and staff an embassy by the time Obama left office in 2017.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is No. 5 in the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings, said he agreed with the nearly-10,000 troop level, but that he would not have announced a timeline for a further drawdown since enemies could just use it to wait out a total American withdrawal.
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