Apparently we are going to stay in Afghanistan forever. If we leave, the Taliban will likely take over large swaths of the country—if not the entire place—and no president wants to be in office when that happens. But neither can we “win.” So we just keep announcing the same old plan: send in more troops. Here’s the latest:
Senior Trump administration and military officials are recommending sending several thousand additional American troops to Afghanistan to try to break a military deadlock in the 15-year war there, in part by pressuring the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government.
….American officials said that 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops, including hundreds of Special Operations forces, could be sent….NATO nations would also be asked to send thousands of troops, and the precise number of American forces deployed would probably depend on what those allies were prepared to do.
Is this a joke? We’ve been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for more than 15 years and we’re once again pretending that adding a few more troops will break that 15-year stalemate? Here’s what troop levels have looked like in Afghanistan since the war started:
The official story is that Trump’s little uptick will be the final straw that panics the Taliban into serious negotiations. I would sure like to hear someone defend this fanciful notion with a straight face.
