May 12, 2017
Welcome to the Forever War
According to legend, Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky famously said that “you may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”
So it is with Afghanistan and the Trump administration, which is reportedlyconsidering a recommitment to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, as well as the deployment of 3,500 more U.S. troops. None of this squares with President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge of an “America First” foreign policy, nor with his healthy skepticism of how America’s long wars in Iraq and Afghanistanwere managed under Presidents Bush and Obama. No matter. The Afghanistan conflict grinds on, and although Trump may not be interested in the details of this war, the war is interested in Trump.
However, before the U.S. reaffirms its commitment to the “forever war” in Afghanistan, we must confront some fundamental questions about what we are doing fighting (and dying) there and whether these new troop commitments will accomplish anything good. If Trump and his generals cannot resolve these questions, they should not commit more troops to fight in Afghanistan.
Read the full article at Slate.
More from CNAS
-
Chinese Demand for Oil Remains Key
Video
Oil advanced from its lowest level since 2021 after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers off Venezuela. Rachel Ziemba, CNAS adjunct senior fellow an...
By Rachel Ziemba
-
After the Deal
Reports
Executive Summary More than two years have passed since the devastating October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas (a.k.a. Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Resista...
By Delaney Soliday & Shivane Anand
-
Reports
National Security Human Capital Program
Short SupplyExecutive Summary The U.S. military faces a critical challenge: Fewer young Americans are willing to serve, and fewer adults are encouraging them to do so. Because of delibera...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski & Taren Sylvester
-
Podcast
Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
The Russia-Iran Partnership: A Geopolitical Balancing ActIt has been almost a year since Russia and Iran signed their comprehensive strategic partnership. That deal established a 20-year partnership between the two countries coverin...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
