Posted on Aug 2, 2019
Report: The US has a plan to draw down troops in Afghanistan
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Withdraw 3,000 US troops from Afghanistan to get the Taliban to negotiate directly with the Afghan government? It seems the US goal is to appease the Taliban just enough to get them to cease fire and then sit down with elected Afghan government officials that the Taliban call a "puppet government," with the US being the puppet master, is why the Taliban refuses to allow any Afghan government officials into these talks.
US officials say they can project power from air bases in Bagram and Kanduhar to counter terror organizations still operating in Afghanistan and along the Afghan-Pakistan border. But the 25 percent troop reduction from 12,000 now to 9,000 will mean hard decisions must to be made by the US commanders on the ground. Which bases do they close, which assets can they do without, and do they still support an adviser/training role with the Afghan military?
US commanders on the ground are calling for a political solution to a situation they say is "militarily untenable." President Donald Trump has said he could win the war but that it would cost "10 million lives," and that would be too much to bear.
With all due respect to President Trump, this is a sign of weakness to the enemy.
Having a business man for a Commander in Chief can be frustrating at times. I am not certain that he has the proper perspective on Afghanistan, in that if our political and military goals are different, we will fail. If we trust the Taliban too much, we will fail.
The war in Vietnam failed not because our military could not achieve the goals for victory, but because our politicians were unwilling or unable to commit the necessary resources to defeat the enemy.
We learned after the surge in Iraq, and before the gains and profits of embedded strategy there, trashed by then President Obama's withdrawal of all US troops in 2011, that we could win a military and political victory in the Middle East. It is possible.
Perhaps there are too many moving parts in Afghanistan for us to successfully win the military and political battles and come out with something better than what's there now.
Pushed aside until the Taliban agree to the US proposal for withdrawal, a cease fire is in place and the Taliban agree to finally sit down with Afghan officials, are the issues of human rights and civil rights, especially with regard to the status of women and the education of girls. Women are subjugated and girls are forbidden to learn to read and write under Sharia observances by the Islamist Taliban, who now control more territory in Afghanistan than they have since 2001, and hope to install an Islamic State.
This is a point that makes US and other western nations uncomfortable, mainly because women's rights and education rights for girls were reasons given by past administrations for staying in Afghanistan after the initial victories after the attacks of 9/11/2001. This has also been presumably, the reason other countries, such as Germany and Italy, still sponsor an on-the-ground presence in Afghanistan.
Whatever happens, however it is done, the Taliban seem to be in the position of power now.
And Donald Trump, for all his good intentions and compassion for human life, has gone down the rabbit hole and may not like what he finds there.
US officials say they can project power from air bases in Bagram and Kanduhar to counter terror organizations still operating in Afghanistan and along the Afghan-Pakistan border. But the 25 percent troop reduction from 12,000 now to 9,000 will mean hard decisions must to be made by the US commanders on the ground. Which bases do they close, which assets can they do without, and do they still support an adviser/training role with the Afghan military?
US commanders on the ground are calling for a political solution to a situation they say is "militarily untenable." President Donald Trump has said he could win the war but that it would cost "10 million lives," and that would be too much to bear.
With all due respect to President Trump, this is a sign of weakness to the enemy.
Having a business man for a Commander in Chief can be frustrating at times. I am not certain that he has the proper perspective on Afghanistan, in that if our political and military goals are different, we will fail. If we trust the Taliban too much, we will fail.
The war in Vietnam failed not because our military could not achieve the goals for victory, but because our politicians were unwilling or unable to commit the necessary resources to defeat the enemy.
We learned after the surge in Iraq, and before the gains and profits of embedded strategy there, trashed by then President Obama's withdrawal of all US troops in 2011, that we could win a military and political victory in the Middle East. It is possible.
Perhaps there are too many moving parts in Afghanistan for us to successfully win the military and political battles and come out with something better than what's there now.
Pushed aside until the Taliban agree to the US proposal for withdrawal, a cease fire is in place and the Taliban agree to finally sit down with Afghan officials, are the issues of human rights and civil rights, especially with regard to the status of women and the education of girls. Women are subjugated and girls are forbidden to learn to read and write under Sharia observances by the Islamist Taliban, who now control more territory in Afghanistan than they have since 2001, and hope to install an Islamic State.
This is a point that makes US and other western nations uncomfortable, mainly because women's rights and education rights for girls were reasons given by past administrations for staying in Afghanistan after the initial victories after the attacks of 9/11/2001. This has also been presumably, the reason other countries, such as Germany and Italy, still sponsor an on-the-ground presence in Afghanistan.
Whatever happens, however it is done, the Taliban seem to be in the position of power now.
And Donald Trump, for all his good intentions and compassion for human life, has gone down the rabbit hole and may not like what he finds there.
Report: The US has a plan to draw down troops in Afghanistan
Posted from militarytimes.com
Donald Trump
Taliban
Afghanistan
War on Terror
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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The Taliban's Center of Gravity are Sharia law, the desire to unify the country, the ability to strike regardless of the terrain.
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MAJ Montgomery Granger - In my view, if the Taliban will agree to negotiate with the Afghan Government, then withdrawing 3000 troops from Afghanistan is not a bad thing... The problem, as I see it, is that the Taliban, like all Islamic groups, does not hold to its agreements... One of their tenets is to do anything to spread Islam to the entire world regardless of what it takes... Their threat to kill us is not an idle one and 9/11 is a prime example... That said, if the Taliban default after negotiations are reached and settled, the we can always re-insert an appropriate number of troops as needed... With me it is cautious optimism...
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