Trump Announces New Strategy for the War in Afghanistan

President Donald Trump revealed what he called a 'path forward' and a 'dramatically' different approach to the US war in Afghanistan. Clearing the way for the deployment of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan, Trump is backtracking from earlier promises to end the country's longest war

President Trump outlined a revised vision for the US war in Afghanistan on Monday, pledging to end a strategy of “nation-building” and instead institute a policy aimed more squarely at addressing the terrorist threat that emanates from the region, the Washington Post reported.

However, Trump provided few specifics about his policy and did not elaborate on how much the US military commitment in the region would increase as a result, insisting that conditions on the ground would determine troop levels and strategy.

According to the Post, Trump’s decision to further commit to the nation’s longest war, rather than withdraw, reflects a significant shift in his approach to Afghanistan since taking office and marks a new willingness to take greater ownership of a protracted conflict that he had long dismissed as a waste of time and resources. As a presidential candidate, Trump denounced Afghanistan as a "total disaster" and railed that the costly conflict in Central Asia drained enormous resources at a time of more pressing needs at home for American taxpayers.

"My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts, but all of my life I heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office," Trump said.

 

[Source: The Washington Post]