WASHINGTON – The United States is preparing to undertake a review of itsstrategy in Afghanistan, US officials told Reuters, a year after PresidentDonald Trump begrudgingly agreed to extend America’s involvement in the17-year-old war.
Officials said Trump has shown signs of frustration over the lack ofprogress since he unveiled a strategy last August that committed to anopen-ended deployment of US military advisers, trainers and special forcesand increased air support for Afghan security forces. The goal was to forcethe Taliban militants to open peace talks with the Kabul government.
Trump was opposed to remaining in America’s longest war, but was convincedby his advisers to give it more time. He authorized last year thedeployment an additional 3,000 US troops, bringing the total to around15,000.
Nearly a year later, the current situation is in a stalemate in whichAfghan civilians are paying a heavy toll, the Taliban are expanding inrural areas but are unable to capture major urban centres and thecapability of Afghan security forces remains in doubt.
Several current US officials and other former officials and advisers withdirect knowledge said the White House had not yet formally ordered thereview, but they were preparing for a government-wide appraisal in the nextfew months.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were notauthorized to publicly discuss the issue.
“We’ve received some indications from the White House that Trump could askfor a review in the next few months. So we’re preparing for what it wouldlook like,” said a senior U.S. official.
The review would examine all facets of the current strategy, including whatprogress had been made, the US troops presence, and prospect ofnegotiations with the Taliban. It also would include US relations withPakistan, which U.S. officials accuse of supporting the insurgents, thesenior official said. Islamabad denies the charge.
“We regularly conduct reviews of our strategies examining theireffectiveness and making necessary adjustments to ensure U.S. resources arebeing used in the most efficient ways possible,” a National SecurityCouncil spokesperson said in an emailed response to a request for comment.“We are not planning an overarching review of our core strategy, like theone conducted last summer.”The official did not define “an overarchingreview of our core strategy,” but added as Trump arrived in Brussels for aNATO summit that, “We expect allies and partners to carry their fair shareof the burden in Afghanistan by continuing to increase troop and financialcontributions.”