The latest report on Afghanistan by the DOD is out.
I know I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. For those who think America has struggled long enough in Afghanistan, remember why we went to that distant land in 2001:
On August 21, 2017, President Trump announced a new regional U.S. strategy for South Asia. This strategy is a clear signal of U.S. resolve and a break with the previous Administration’s focus on a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The purpose of the U.S. campaign from 2001 to the present has been to prevent future attacks on the U.S. and its Allies homelands; we will not accept the use of South Asia as a sanctuary for terrorist activity and planning. To accomplish this objective, we have sought to stabilize Afghanistan. The goal is a stable, independent Afghanistan at peace with its neighbors.
I would hope that the strategy recognizes that "Afghanistan" is a geographic term rather than a political term other than in international norms of assuming a state government controls its territory.
But otherwise it is a sound goal. And one that does not require 100,000 American troops in direct combat on a daily basis to achieve because we actually have Afghan security forces in sufficient numbers and training to assist.
Who believes that we can achieve the goal by walking away from Afghanistan and hoping others will deal with the problem? Anyone? A show of hands, perhaps?
I thought not.
It's a long war. Don't abandon progress which will mean we have to start over from scratch when our enemies rebuild and come after us.
And it would be worse than that because potential friends will have seen us abandon allies already.
