America has entered its 20th year of fighting in Afghanistan without victory. With a major troop drawdown imminent, many of the generals who failed to win are now well-positioned to prevent a disastrous defeat.
In a swift response to the 9/11 attacks, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan shattered al Qaeda, driving its remnants into neighboring Pakistan. But then President George W. Bush decided to build Afghanistan into a democracy.
The generals enthusiastically took on an open-ended mission: “Soldiers and Marines are expected to be nation-builders as well as war-fighters,” decreed the 2006 counterinsurgency field manual. Grunts, however, soon learned they couldn’t win the hearts and minds of semiliterate tribesmen or stop the Taliban from using its Pakistani sanctuary to rearm. Still, our generals remained confident.
President Obama took office declaring that Afghanistan was “a war that we have to win.” But after making scant progress, he pulled out most U.S. troops. Mr. Trump further reduced U.S. forces to roughly 5,000, while greatly increasing the bombing.
In a tweet last month, the president promised to have all U.S. troops in Afghanistan home by Christmas. Mr. Trump can issue the order, but it would be impossible to carry out before he leaves office. Nevertheless, he seems determined to slash by half the few U.S. forces remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such a quick and dirty drawdown would be the most irresponsible national-security decision of this tumultuous presidency. It will be applauded
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