President Trump on Monday announced he will not pull out U.S. troops from Afghanistan, saying he’s committed to a new strategy aimed at winning the nation’s longest war.
During a prime-time address to the nation, Trump declared a rapid exit from the war-torn nation would leave a major power vacuum that would create a new safe haven for terrorists — a result he called “predictable and unacceptable.”
The president acknowledged his “original instinct was to pull out,” a reference to his long-held view that the U.S. erred when it entered Afghanistan and that the military should withdraw quickly.
But he said the calculation is different “when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office,” and he has determined the U.S. must continue to fight to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“The American people are weary of war without victory. I share the American people’s frustration,” Trump said, adding that, “in the end, we will fight and we will win.”
Trump’s speech at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., was cast as an announcement of his revised strategy in Afghanistan, but he offered few specifics about his plan.
While the president is widely expected to send roughly 4,000 additional U.S. troops to the country, a recommendation made by the Pentagon, Trump declined to say how many troops he would send or reveal a firm timeline for how long they would serve there.
There are roughly 8,400 American service members currently in Afghanistan. Most troops train and advise the Afghan military, but roughly 2,000 participate in counterterrorism missions. The U.S. had 100,000 troops stationed there until President Obama began to withdraw them in 2010 and 2011.
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Trump reverses course on Afghanistan withdrawal, says it would have "predictable and unacceptable" results https://t.co/vBWziu5HnA pic.twitter.com/V62bdjhg8B
— The Hill (@thehill) August 22, 2017
4K more troops will do nothing but delay our defeat a tad. 40K could be a real Surge 2.0. 400K might actually work. https://t.co/FYbKlktc1t
— John Schindler (@20committee) August 21, 2017
CT-focused AFG strategy proposed by VP Biden in 2009 was the way to go.https://t.co/Gha4CoMd68
— John Schindler (@20committee) August 21, 2017
A few thousand more troops is not enough. And I would not favor sending in more troops and escalating the conflict unless the US is serious about winnng. Seems this country doesn’t really have the stomach for the fight as it once did during World War II. Except for a handful of skirmishes (Grenada, Kuwait), subsequent conflicts have ended in a stalemate (Korea) or a loss (Vietnam). We become all gung-ho about fighting whatever it is in the beginning, but we lose interest. Meanwhile, thousands of brave men and women die in vain because of political shenanigans and a lack of commitment. Eight years of military decimation under Obama doesn’t help either.
If Trump wants to put thousands more troops in harm’s way, he had better have the strategy and commitment for winning. Otherwise, it’s time to quit.
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