On top of the news of a US withdrawal of the few thousand troops we have in Syria come reports today that the President is also about to order a draw down in the size of American forces in Afghanistan. Something like half of the 14,000 troops there would be pulled out.
Americans have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001. The Taliban were ousted quickly in our first response to the 9-11 attacks. After that, we had a small number of troops in Afghanistan fighting against the Taliban in an endless campaign. When Obama took office, he announced that Iraq had been a "bad" war and that Afghanistan was the "good" war. Obama rushed all American troops out of Iraq but sent over 100,000 troops to Afghanistan to finally win that fight. The result of that deployment was that many of our armed forces were killed (about 1600) or wounded, but there was essentially no progress in achieving victory over the Taliban. At the same time that he sent large numbers of troops to Afghanistan, Obama also announced that the deployment was temporary and would be ended in a few years. All the Taliban had to do was wait for these forces to go.
When Trump took office, he had campaigned against foreign interventions by US forces. For Afghanistan, however, he listened to the generals and put more troops back into that country. Casualties have been low, but there are still troops getting wounded or killed there. So far this year, the number of those killed is around 10.
If the story of the draw down of US forces is correct, it seems that President Trump is done listening to the advice of the generals who claim to be able to win the war. He's going back to the position on which he campaigned which is to bring home our troops.
I don't know the correct move to make in Afghanistan. The USA has no national interest in that country aside from it not being a breeding ground for terrorists or a place where opium is grown in mass quantities. Still, we are already there so a departure could be looked at as a sign of weakness.
One thing is certain. President Trump is not a prisoner of the old ways of thinking about US troop deployments. Obama agonized about every move and then rarely took action without watering it down so that it had little, if any, effect. Trump is willing to challenge the orthodoxy even if it is coming from his own Pentagon. Maybe he's right; maybe he's not. We will have to wait and see.
Americans have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001. The Taliban were ousted quickly in our first response to the 9-11 attacks. After that, we had a small number of troops in Afghanistan fighting against the Taliban in an endless campaign. When Obama took office, he announced that Iraq had been a "bad" war and that Afghanistan was the "good" war. Obama rushed all American troops out of Iraq but sent over 100,000 troops to Afghanistan to finally win that fight. The result of that deployment was that many of our armed forces were killed (about 1600) or wounded, but there was essentially no progress in achieving victory over the Taliban. At the same time that he sent large numbers of troops to Afghanistan, Obama also announced that the deployment was temporary and would be ended in a few years. All the Taliban had to do was wait for these forces to go.
When Trump took office, he had campaigned against foreign interventions by US forces. For Afghanistan, however, he listened to the generals and put more troops back into that country. Casualties have been low, but there are still troops getting wounded or killed there. So far this year, the number of those killed is around 10.
If the story of the draw down of US forces is correct, it seems that President Trump is done listening to the advice of the generals who claim to be able to win the war. He's going back to the position on which he campaigned which is to bring home our troops.
I don't know the correct move to make in Afghanistan. The USA has no national interest in that country aside from it not being a breeding ground for terrorists or a place where opium is grown in mass quantities. Still, we are already there so a departure could be looked at as a sign of weakness.
One thing is certain. President Trump is not a prisoner of the old ways of thinking about US troop deployments. Obama agonized about every move and then rarely took action without watering it down so that it had little, if any, effect. Trump is willing to challenge the orthodoxy even if it is coming from his own Pentagon. Maybe he's right; maybe he's not. We will have to wait and see.
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