May 12, 2017
Seven questions Congress should ask about Trump’s mini-surge in Afghanistan
The Trump administration seems set to roll-out a mini-surge of up to 5,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, likely increasing U.S. taxpayer costs to $30 billion per year. Before committing more money and troops to the intractable conflict, Congress should be sure that the United States is not throwing good money after bad. Here are six questions to ask.
1. Are the Taliban an international terrorist group or an Afghan insurgent group? Many Afghan elites insist the Taliban are terrorists. A negotiated outcome to the war in Afghanistan is possible if the Taliban are insurgents. With the Taliban reportedly in control of 11 percent of the country and contesting roughly 29 percent, hundreds of thousands of Afghans seem to have answered that question for themselves. 40 years of conflict, to include over 30 years of fighting between those supporting the Taliban and those supporting the government produces deep-seated animosities. The United States needs to understand these animosities, but not be held hostage to them.
Read the full article at The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
Twenty Years Later, the U.S. Military Is Still Lost in Iraq
Commentary
Having done little to enable the Iraqi security forces to sustain their own capabilities, the Biden administration is setting the conditions for another strategic failure in I...
By Jonathan Lord
-
How the US invasion shaped Iraq
Video
The US invasion of Iraq kicked off a cycle of violence and instability that persists to this day. Start Here with Sandra Gathmann explains how the invasion set Iraq on a troub...
By Jonathan Lord
-
Al-Sudani's First 100 Days
Commentary
The first 100 days of the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shiya al-Sudani are a model of appeasement....
By Hamzeh Hadad, Erwin van Veen & Folkert Woudstra
-
The West Has Captured Thousands of Iranian Weapons. Send Them to Ukraine.
Commentary
Sending Iran’s weapons to Ukraine advances the mission in ways both tangible and symbolic. Washington should move without delay....
By Jonathan Lord & Andrea Kendall-Taylor
