Trump allows Pentagon to set Afghanistan troop numbers
June 13, 2017
President Donald Trump will give the Pentagon freedom to set troop numbers as the war in Afghanistan moves into a new phase. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis had asked for more troops amid concerns from lawmakers.
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Mattis: The US is 'not winning' in Afghanistan
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Trump reportedly on Tuesday granted the Pentagon authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, a move that could lead to the deployment of thousands more soldiers, an anonymous source told the French news agency AFP.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had told frustrated senators earlier on Tuesday that the US was "not winning" the war in Afghanistan, amidst a push to send more troops to stabilize the country. The call for additional soldiers comes as Mattis prepares to unveil a new Afghanistan strategy in July.
Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing on the Pentagon's budget, Mattis warned that the "Taliban had a good year last year, they are trying to have a good one this year."
"Right now I believe the enemy is surging," he said, referring to the Taliban as well as the so-called "Islamic State" also trying to gain a foothold in the country.
Mattis' plea comes a few months after the NATO commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, warned "a few thousand" more troops would be necessary to roll back gains made by the Taliban in recent years.
Endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
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Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
Image: Reuters/M. Ismail
A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Hossaini
Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
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Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
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Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Shirzad
Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
Image: DW/H. Hamraz
Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
Image: Reuters/O.Sobhani
An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
Image: Reuters/K. Pempel
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Although former US President Barack Obama was praised for the decision to wind down US involvement in the highly unpopular conflict, insurgents have used the troop pullback to make significant military gains.
But his successor, Donald Trump, was also under fire for his strategy, or lack thereof, on Tuesday.
"We're now six months into this administration; we still haven't got a strategy for Afghanistan," said Republican Senator John McCain. "Unless we get a strategy from you, you're going to get a strategy from us."
Secretary Mattis, a former marine combat commander in Afghanistan, characterized the current phase of the war as that of "frequent skirmishing," necessitating "a change in approach" that he hopes to formally announce next month.
The Afghanistan war is the longest conflict in American history, already underway for 16 years without a clear end in sight. The US currently has around 8,400 troops in the country.
