Trump’s Strategy May Help in Afghanistan, but Few Expect ‘Outright Victory’
21, 2017
President Trump’s new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, which he laid out Monday night in a televised address, is intended to give a badly needed boost to the campaign to push back the Taliban, step up the fight against terrorism
and reverse the steady deterioration of security that has allowed devastating bombings to shake Kabul.
The United States has 8,400 troops allocated to the Resolute Support mission to train and advise Afghan forces, far fewer than the 13,600 American troops
that retired Gen. John R. Allen, the Afghan commander from 2011 to 2013, sought from the Obama administration.
"These are going to be people specifically designed, trained and organized and equipped to go in and advise them how you take the hill, get them the air support and artillery support and rocket support
that will enable them," Mr. Mattis told Congress in June as he laid out his proposal for the additional forces.
But even those who support Mr. Trump’s strategy cast his decision as the start of yet another challenging chapter
that might, at best, enable Afghan forces to regain momentum on the battlefield over the next several years, not a quick fix for the problems that have bedeviled the region for nearly 16 years.
Trump said that A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists, including ISIS and Al Qaeda,
The strategy, which would require several thousand more troops to implement, will likely help, current and former United States commanders said.
