U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement
The draft agreement says that U.S. military and Defense Department civilian personnel are exempt from visa requirements and taxation. Afghan taxes and other fees will not be imposed on the entry or exit of goods specifically for the use of U.S. forces. An annex to the draft lists locations where Afghanistan agrees to provide facilities for U.S. forces, including Kabul; Bagram, north of the capital, where the United States has its largest current base; Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan; Herat in the west; Kandahar in the south; Shindand in Herat province; Sharab in Helmand province; Gardez, south of Kabul; and Jalalabad, to the east. The draft document gives the U.S. the right to deploy American forces on nine bases, including the two biggest, the airfields in Bagram and Kandahar. It also allows U.S. military planes to fly in and out of Afghanistan from seven air bases, including Kabul International Airport. U.S. forces would be permitted under the document to transport supplies from five border crossings, described along with the air bases as "official points of embarkation and debarkation." All bases in Afghanistan would revert to Afghan ownership and sovereignty after 2014, according to the draft.
Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan
On August 21, 2017 U.S. President Trump unveiled his strategy for Afghanistan and the broader South Asia, but he didn't specify either the number of troops that would be committed, or the conditions by which he would judge the success of their mission there. Instead conditions on the ground would determine troop levels and strategy. This was confirmed on August 24, 2017 by the military commander for United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John W. Nicholson, who described the new strategy in Afghanistan as defining success by conditions on the ground and not "arbitrary timelines." U.S. President Trump said in his August 21, 2017 speech that "victory will have a clear definition: attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over the country, and stopping mass terror attacks against Americans before they emerge." For this purpose about 4,000 more than the 8,500 U.S. service members currently in the region will be deployed according to the Washington Post citing congressional officials who were told this number by the Trump Administration.