President Obama has made the right decision to continue support to the Afghan government.  The Afghan government and security forces have increasingly taken responsibility for their own security. This shift has allowed the United States to reduce our force level in Afghanistan from almost 100,000 to the planned level of 5500 in 2017, while almost entirely ending the U.S. role in ground combat.  Far from continuing a U.S. war in Afghanistan, this decision to offer limited support to the Afghan military will allow the Afghans to continue to take responsibility for their security.  At the same time, it will allow us to continue our counterterrorism operations against extremists, like al Qaeda, who threaten both the United States and Afghanistan.