For the first time that I can think of, President Trump admitted that he changed his mind about something. Normally, when he changes positions, he either lies about his previous stance, or ignores it. He pointed out that his initial instinct was to withdraw from Afghanistan. He has been very vocal about our involvement there being a mistake, and his articulated foreign policy has been to avoid foreign entanglements.
He also called out Pakistan, accusing them of harboring terrorists and providing a safe haven for them and for the Taliban. I have said myself that we should stop supporting Pakistan economically and militarily if their national interest is at odds with ours. One of the problems in this region is that the national interests of our allies are not always in alignment with ours, and often our friends are enemies to each other; Turkey and the Kurds are an example.
He rejected the idea of an announced timetable for withdrawal. While I understand that the intention of Obama's announced withdrawal date was not only to let Americans know that we had an exit plan, but also to let the Afghan government know that we expected them to defend their own country and not depend on us indefinitely, the result was to embolden the Taliban to wait us out, knowing that our time was running out.
There are also things that I am either against, or simply less than impressed with.
Once again we hear the refrain of "he sounded presidential", and that he stuck to his script. Has the bar gotten so low that "he can read" is now a qualification for greatness? He can read a teleprompter and sound like he's never seen the words before...blah, blah, blah.
Trump's justification for staying in Afghanistan is the military version of not understanding the economics of sunk cost. He wants us to stay because "our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made..." That's not a reason. That's saying we're going to continue to fight in Afghanistan because we've been fighting in Afghanistan. He also brings up the supposed dangers of terrorists groups filling the vacuum that a hasty withdrawal would leave. I don't buy it. Terrorist groups have formed more because we are there than because we left. To a lot of these people we are an invading and occupying force, and infidels to boot. Every day we stay there we make it easier for the Taliban or ISIL to recruit.
He complained about being dealt a "bad and complex hand". Yeah, well welcome to the presidency. Every president inherits problems. Obama inherited all this from Bush too, suck it up.
And despite Trump declaration that victory will have a clear definition, we're still pretty vague on what victory will look like, so, just like with the last two presidents, we'll never know when we're done. How will we know when ISIL is obliterated and Al-Qaeda crushed? Preventing the Taliban from taking over the country? For how long? They control 40% of territory right now, are we going to "obliterate" them too? If not, how do we know they won't come back?
Then there's the assertion that the Afghan government must do their share. The Afghan government is corrupt and it's military doesn't give a shit. Huge amounts of money has been skimmed off my corrupt generals and politicians. He doesn't want to engage in nation building, but it will take a much different Afghanistan to do what Trump wants them to do. And with this latest fuzzy long-term commitment, we've enabled the corruption and the dependence for who-knows-how-many-more years.
And finally, let's not forget that the Taliban is not a terrorist group. They are the deposed government of Afghanistan that we ousted. What we are involved in is not a fight against terrorists, but a civil war. That's what we were involved with in Iraq before we got out.
The bottom line is we heard a lot of tough talk, but no real change in how we're doing things.
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