Washington to set out 'path' for Afghanistan

President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

By Carol Morello and John Wagner

President Donald Trump will this afternoon announce a "path forward" on military strategy in Afghanistan, offering his imprint on the longest-running war in United States history.

Trump is scheduled to address the military and American people from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said yesterday.

The nationally televised prime-time address offers Trump an opportunity to seize the mantle as commander in chief on a key foreign policy issue.

Various options have been under consideration for Afghanistan, including sending about 3800 more troops to augment the 8400 already there to train and assist local forces. Another option Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has mentioned is to replace US troops with private contractors.

But any proposal to reinforce the US presence there is certain to meet resistance.

Senator Benjamin Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Fox News that he would oppose sending more troops. "I don't believe putting more American soldiers in Afghanistan is the answer," he said, arguing a stable government in the country should be the goal.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said many lawmakers had withheld any judgment on troop levels until they hear the Administration's strategy.

"The troop strength question is sort of the cart before the horse," Kaine told CBS's Face the Nation. "The real question is what is our strategy? And then when you lay out the strategy, the troop strength question can kind of answer itself."

Earlier yesterday, Mattis confirmed Trump had settled on strategy.

Speaking to reporters on a military plane en route to meetings in Jordan, Mattis offered no details of the revised US policy. The results have been delayed amid concerns that, more than 15 years after the US invaded, an international coalition and Afghan forces are not winning the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

"I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a preset position," Mattis told reporters.

At the weekend Trump met at Camp David with more than a dozen aides, including Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Vice-President Mike Pence. After the briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was "studying and considering his options". Then Trump tweeted on Sunday that at Camp David, "many decisions [were] made, including on Afghanistan".

Trump's reluctance to commit to a new strategy to this point has reflected the paucity of good options. It also highlights a contradiction at the core of Trump's foreign policy. On the campaign trail and in conversations with advisers, Trump has said he wants to win and project strength. But he also has called for ending costly commitments in places such as Afghanistan and the Middle East.