Trump to announce Afghanistan plan Monday in TV address

Axios ^ | August 20, 2017 | Jonathan

[be-baw]

President Trump will address the nation on his Afghanistan war strategy tomorrow at 9 p.m. from Fort Myer in Arlington, VA. It's one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency, and it comes after Trump met with his national security team on Friday at Camp David .

Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Sunday, per Reuters: "I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a pre-set position."

The stakes: Should Trump order a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, advisers believe he'd all but ensure the Taliban completes its takeover of the country. Al-Qaeda and ISIS would be allowed to flourish, and you'd have a terrorist launching pad similar to, or potentially worse than, before 9/11.

Trump's decision hasn't leaked; but I can illuminate some of the private conversations leading up to it, from senior administration sources and former officials close to the Pentagon

[be-baw]

If this is true, then it means they smell blood in the water

If a single Republican supports this he or she will be doomed.

[Truth29]

A GOPe vote in favor of censure will be the end of the GOP. If they want a war against the establishment, this will give them one.

[Truth29]

Jeff Flake would vote for this, probably McCain and Olympia Snowe, as well. McConnell will be passive and let it happen IMO. The GOP hates Trump more than the Democrats. This is a trial run for impeachment.

[Enchante]

There you go expecting ethics, logic, and decency from the Mediascum and the Democrats. Oh, and RINOs, too. No way, they are malicious, dishonest, and willing to twist any words or events in ways to do harm to the Trump administration (and America).

[Enchante]

There you go expecting ethics, logic, and decency from the Mediascum and the Democrats. Oh, and RINOs, too. No way, they are malicious, dishonest, and willing to twist any words or events in ways to do harm to the Trump administration (and America).

[Enchante]

??? Are the Senators all coming back to DC?? They are mainly in their home states or travelling now, I believe, on their August recess.

[Blood of Tyrants]

We either need to pull out or go barbarian on them.

[dp0622]

Man did you nail it.

Bush et al SHOULD have know that!

I didn’t but I don’t have supposedly the best of the best minds around me advising me.

I knew NOTHING about islam and its past at the time.

ANY official with experience over there should have said “are you nuts?!?!”

I didn’t even know there were Shiites and Sunnis, who hated each other.

I think the president should have known that.

Just get out and use air campaigns.

That country is not worth another dead American and another devastated mother.

[Enlightened1]

“The effort there probably just became another source of cash for the UniParty of Criminal Government and their corporate friends.”

BINGO!

Think you nailed it on the head with that post.

I’m sorry but if the Taliban/Al-Qaeda is THAT STRONG,after 15 years of the “war on terror” in Afghanistan, then the strategy and the tactics are a 100% complete failure. Moreover, men in caves are defeating all our modern military that we have spent Trillions of tax payers dollars.

President Trump should not be listening to the same people that cannot win a war in Afghanistan. The fact we can’t leave means we lost. Moreover, how much have we spent over there? Senator McCain said we should be there at least 100 years. Sadly I don’t think he is alone in congress.

Now imagine a foreign nation sent their troops here but never left. The fact we never leave makes us occupiers at that point.

[Enlightened1]

“Trump’s top national security advisers all agree the only way they’ll win their missions in Afghanistan is to modestly increase troop levels, keep training the Afghan military, and keep a strong CIA and special forces presence to run aggressive counter-terrorism operations”

This is the strategy and tactics they have used for 15 years that has failed. What the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and inspecting a different result.

[rawcatslyentist]

Breaking Newspeak:

Heroin rations to be increased to 3 grams weekly.

[Vaquero]

BS. Pull out.

Ripley:

...nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[Candor7]

After allowing the ouster of Steve Bannon, I no longer care what Trump does.

I won’t even listen to him anymore.Its all liberal clap trap now and opiate for the masses.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

The definition of what victory is should be part of this speech. I imagine that the definition should go something like, the defeat of the Taliban, Al Qada and ISIS in Afghanistan and ensuring that we leave behind a strong Afghani government that can ensure they prevent Afghanistan from falling back into a lawless safehaven for future terrorists to reside.

Just like the key with the NORK situation is China, the key here is Pakistan. The Pashtuns are a tribal people who don’t truly recognize the nation state concept. Their allegiance is to their tribe, not their nation. They are spread out between eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. These are the same people that the Brits were fighting on the northwest Indian frontier in the 19th century. The same tribes that Churchill fought as a young British subaltern. They are the ones giving free access to Al Qada fighters to go back and forth between the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

IMO, what will be key to this speech tonight is any revelation in regards to the cooperation we will get with Pakistan. Will there be a simultaneous military operation on the Pakistan side within these regions to clear out the Taliban and Al Qada forces.

In truth, I’m not that worried about the ISIS fighters here. They are a small force and are actually the enemy of the Taliban. They have no indigenous support and once we get rid of the Taliban and Al Qada, it will not take much to get rid of any leftover ISIS forces. They key is toppling the Taliban.

[SisterK]

I hope he’s withdrawing.

I'm with you.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Now imagine a foreign nation sent their troops here but never left. The fact we never leave makes us occupiers at that point."

So we are occupiers of Germany and Japan? We've had large troop forces stationed in these countries for 70 + years. Are we occupiers of South Korea? We've had large troop forces stationed there for 60 + years. All three of the above mentioned countries have larger American forces right now in their country than what we have or what we propose to have in Afghanistan.

The only way you could say we are occupiers is if the lawfully elected government of Afghanistan did not want us there. They do, they are not a puppet government like the one that the Soviet Union installed. This government has been duly elected by the people of Afghanistan and they want us there.

[Candor7]

We need to waste Helmund province, and then leave. Its simple.

Time to get out.

[IamConservative]

Time to get out.

I agree. Regardless how many soldiers die and how much money is spent, Afghanistan will fill up with radical islamists of some kind soon after we leave.

[mazda77]

Just heard an interview on Breitbart with Eric Price and it is obvious his plan is not what it will be.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Just get out and use air campaigns."

Think through what you are saying. To have an air campaign, we need an air base. Where should our air base be? We no longer have the Manas Air base in Kyrgyzstan. We have nothing over there except in Afghanistan where we have Bagram and Kandahar air bases. If we pull out as you want, we have no way of conducting an air campaign.

You might say we could just send B-52s from America or Diego Garcia. Yes we could do that, but it would be a limited air campaign that could not achieve any truly measurable long term goals and we would also need flyover rights from countries. What if Afghanistan did not allow us rights into their air space? Do we just do it anyways in violation of all international laws? That would be an act of war with the lawful government of Afghanistan.

This is an emotional issue, but one that needs to be thought through logically, not with our emotions.