US cuts troops

(Baonghean.vn) - The United States will cut 40,000 troops within the next two years, the country's media reported.

This also resulted in 17,000 civilian employees serving in the military losing their jobs.

Under the plan, the total active-duty strength of the US Army will be reduced to about 450,000 troops by the end of 2017.

The US Army's troop levels will be at their lowest in decades.

The US Army's strength peaked at 570,000 troops at the height of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The plan has been under discussion since early 2014, when former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed at the Pentagon a program to cut troop levels to 450,000, after two costly wars abroad.

Nearly 10,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan after a planned partial withdrawal was delayed until 2016. In Iraq, about 3,500 US troops are also helping train Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic State (IS) group. Some US troops are also training 60 rebel militias in Syria, according to figures released on Tuesday.

After the cuts, the Army will be at its lowest level since 1940, the year before the United States entered World War II. The Army had just 270,000 troops then. A year before the 9/11 attacks, the Army had 480,000 troops.

The military could face a further 30,000 troop cuts if automatic budget cuts, known as 'budget sequestration', come into effect in October this year.

Vo Ngoc Trung

Source: BBC