Trump Authorizes Mattis to Send Additional Forces to Afghanistan

Three administration officials said on Tuesday that President Trump has authorized former Marine general and current Secretary of Defense James Mattis to deploy additional forces to Afghanistan.  Doing this opens a path for more American soldiers to enter a war that Pentagon chief describes the United States as “not winning.”

It is reported that Mr. Mattis believes “to favor sending several thousand more American troops to strengthen the effort to advise Afghan forces as they push back against gains made by the Taliban, the Islamic State and other militant groups.  But officials said he had not yet decided how many more forces to send to Afghanistan, or when to deploy them.”

A United States official said that Mr. Trump decided to authorize Mattis to do the following on Tuesday, marking the latest of a series of moves by the White House to give more freedom to the Pentagon and its military, regarding deployments and such matters.  Senator John McCain displayed opposition to this decision, saying that the Pentagon failed to present a viable plan to turn the tide of the war around, a conflict that has been present for more than 15 years.

McCain says, “We’re now six months into this administration.  We still haven’t got a strategy for Afghanistan.  It makes it hard for us to support you when we don’t have a strategy.”  Attempting to ease McCain’s concerns, Mattis responds by saying, “There are actions being taken to make certain that we don’t pay a price for the delay.”

            Michael R. Gordon of The New York Times writes, “Mr. Trump’s approach makes a sharp break from former President Barack Obama, who tightly controlled decision on military troops, a practice that some critics complained smacked of micromanaging.  The president has relaxed the rules for counterterrorism operations in Somalia and Yemen and was quick to approve the military’s plan to fire sea-launched cruise missile at an airfield that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used to mount a chemical weapons attack in Syria.”

Mr. Mattis comments that the Taliban “had a good year last year, and they’re trying to have a good one this year.  Right now, I believe the enemy is surging.”  As the Trump administration and the Pentagon ponder a course of action, all are thinking of how to reverse the tide on the battlefield.

With an estimated 9,800 troops stationed in Afghanistan, most are “assigned to an international force of about 13,000 troops that are training and advising the Afghan military.  About 2,000 of the American troops are assigned to fight Al Qaeda and other militant groups.”  As many more are soon to be deployed, citizens back home can only hope for the best in regards to the conflict in Afghanistan.