were 16,500. By Jan 2020 there were 8,000. By the election less than 5,000 AFTER the election he cut troop levels about in half from there, to 2,500. Part of the withdrawal process included the administration certifying that the Taliban were living up to their end of the treaty, which they were not. He intentionally left Biden an untenable situation. He could either attempt an orderly withdrawal with only 2,500 men or add enough troops to evacuate US and Afghan civilians and military equipment. We know how you would have reacted to that. The alternative was to do what he did, which was to get out as many people as he could. Trump the political pyromaniac got exactly what he planned on, which was laying the foundation of a no win situation for Biden. F all of you traitors.