Krauthammer on US and Afghan president: 'They finally have a player they can work with'

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Krauthammer on Afghanistan's president

Charles Krauthammer said that President Obama’s announcement the U.S. will maintain its current troop level in Afghanistan until the end of the year is a response to the disaster that unfolded in Iraq after the troop pullout in that country.

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that President Obama’s announcement the U.S. will maintain its current troop level in Afghanistan until the end of the year is a response to the disaster that unfolded in Iraq after the troop pullout in that country.

“I think this is a direct reaction to what they did in Iraq. The fact that they went on a timetable, they withdrew all Americans, and now they are back in a much worse situation where Iraq is sort of being divided between ISIS and Iran, sort of the worst of both worlds,” Krauthammer said. “[The administration understands] that the timeline is really not something you can stick to.”

Krauthammer went on to say another reason for the president’s “flexibility” in keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan may be the new Afghan president himself, who today thanked the American people for their sacrifice in his country.

“They finally have a player they can work with. This is not Karzai, who insisted on...insulting the United States, and really sort of implying he was sympathetic with the Taliban. This is a guy who is really very pro-American,” Krauthammer said.