Posted on 08/22/2017 1:12:05 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has spent months bashing President Trump for delaying a new Afghanistan strategy, on Monday night praised him for “taking a big step in the right direction” after his address on the path forward.
“I commend President Trump for taking a big step in the right direction with the new strategy for Afghanistan,” the Senate Armed Services chairman said in a statement. “The unfortunate truth is that this strategy is long overdue, and in the interim, the Taliban have made dangerous inroads. Nevertheless, I believe the President is now moving us well beyond the prior administration's failed strategy of merely postponing defeat."
In a prime-time address in front of a crowd of troops at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., Trump laid out in broad strokes how he plans to proceed in Afghanistan.
Despite originally wanting to withdraw from the country, Trump said he now believes withdrawing would lead to “predictable and unacceptable” results.
He said the U.S. presence in the country would depend on conditions on the ground, rather than any specific timeline; the U.S. would integrate its military, diplomatic and economic power in the country; and the approach to Pakistan would change.
Still, Trump declined to discuss specifics, including how many more U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan.
“We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plan for further military activities,” he said. “Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy for now on. … I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will.”
Trump’s speech came after months of deliberations on the issue. McCain became so frustrated with the delay that he introduced his own strategy as an amendment to the annual defense policy bill.
In his statement Monday night, McCain said Trump got right that the strategy should be based on conditions on the ground and take a regional approach.
Still, McCain, who has been critical of Trump on a number of fronts, added that Trump must now “conduct himself as a wartime commander-in-chief.”
“He must speak regularly to the American people, and to those waging this war on their behalf, about why we are fighting, why the additional sacrifices are worth it, and how we will succeed,” McCain said.
McCain also said Congress must do its job and pledged to hold an Armed Services Committee hearing on the strategy in September.
“Congress has a role to play in sending America's young men and women into harm's way, and we intend to exercise that responsibility,” he said. “The road ahead will not be easy, but America and the world cannot afford an Afghanistan that is under control of the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.”
That’s troubling. If McCain is for something, most intelligent people run in the other direction.
McCain always gets a boner over “war talk”.
The guy is a war mongering globalist.
McCain is a war monger. No friend of the president.
One of the biggest positives for President Trump in the campaign was that his policies were seen as totally opposite from Senator McCain’s. The president risks alienating those who were his earliest supporters for the praise of those who will never be in his corner.
You are correct sir. If McCain is for it, the best course of action, is to do the opposite.
The Colonel Klink conundrum.
The guy is a war mongering globalist.
/
Repeat!
Yes, the ole Klinkmeister was usually on the short end of the stick.
By the way, it must be 3:40 AM central time, but it is 4:40 pm here. You are up late, or up early.
3:40 A.M. I slept earlier and now I’m up again. Back pain.
McCain has been pretty much wrong his whole career. THis is not a good sign.
Meh. Their differences will likely be over soon anyway.
McCain’s opinion is irrelevant despite the fact I commented on this thread.
agreed - McCain is a neocon swamp creature
Hopefully it will be our bombers and Afghani ground forces.
I wonder how long McCain has had his brain tumor. This would go a long way in explaining this war monger’s behavior.
And Miss Lindsey liked the speech, too. Worrysome.
The Always Trumpers have been viciously attacking any Freeper who dares hold Trump to his promises. All the BS about 4D chess is a smoke screen to distract from the obvious. Trump’s agenda has been derailed. Bannon is gone, McMaster has purged Trump supporters and has free reign to pursue his own New World Order fantasy. There will be no wall. There will be no calling islam what it is. The sexual revolution in the armed forces will continue unabated. The GOP Senate will continue to stall Obamacare repeal until Trump caves into a big government compromise.
Yes even a compromised Trump is eons better than Hillary, but let’s be honest about what is happening. The Ivanka wing of the White House has won and we will see an endless stream of compromises for the next 3 1/2 years. Read posts from the election. Freepers and voters did. It choose a Trump-lite. There has been a soft coup and Trump is no longer in control of his agenda.
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