Trump Reverses on Afghanistan, Backs Intervention
By Newsmax. Declaring the U.S. will win “in the end,” President Donald Trump vowed Monday night to keep American troops fighting in Afghanistan despite his earlier inclination to withdraw. But he insisted the U.S. would not offer “a blank check” after 16 years of war, and he pointedly declined to say whether or when more troops might be sent.
In a prime-time address billed as the unveiling of his new Afghanistan strategy, Trump said the U.S. would shift away from a “time-based” approach, instead linking its assistance to results and to cooperation from the beleaguered Afghan government, Pakistan and others.
Still, he offered few details about how that approach would differ substantively from what the U.S. has already tried unsuccessfully under the past two presidents.
“We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities,” Trump said. “Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on.” (Read more from “Trump Reverses on Afghanistan, Backs Intervention” HERE)
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Trump Reverses Views on Afghanistan, a War With No Easy Exits
By Susan Page. In Afghanistan, there are no easy exits . . .
President Trump unveiled his “path forward” in Afghanistan in a nationally televised speech Monday night before a military audience at Fort Myer, just across the Potomac River from Washington. If that sounds familiar, it should: There have been more than a dozen official announcements of a changed course or a fresh approach or a strategic review in the 16 years since Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts, but all of my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office,” Trump declared, describing his decision to continue the U.S. involvement, albeit with conditions. “Our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check. The American people expect to see real reforms and real results.”
The speech stood as a test of the new commander-in-chief’s ability to rally a nation weary of this war behind his strategy to wage it — and at a time his moral authority is under fire for his comments on last week’s march by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va. (Read more from “Trump Reverses Views on Afghanistan, a War With No Easy Exits” HERE)
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