Afghan plan may involve additional 3,900 troops

WASHINGTON— U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the stalemate in America’s longest war and eliminate Afghanistan’s rising extremist threat involves sending up to 3,900 additional U.S. forces, senior officials said Tuesday. The first deployments could take place within days.

In a national address Monday night, Trump reversed his past calls for a speedy exit and recommitted the United States to the 16-year conflict, saying U.S. troops must “fight to win.” He warned against the mistakes made in Iraq, where an American military withdrawal led to a vacuum that Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, quickly filled. Trump would not confirm how many more troops he plans to send to Afghanistan, which may be the public’s most pressing question about his strategy. In interviews with television networks Tuesday, VicePresident Mike Pence similarly wouldn’t give any clear answer. Instead, he cited Pentagon plans from June calling for 3,900 more troops.

U.S. officials said there was no fixed number. But they said the Pentagon has told Trump it needs that many fresh forces in addition to the roughly 8,400 Americans in the country to accomplish Trump’s objectives of “obliterating ISIS (Daesh), crushing Al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.”

The 3,900 figure includes a combination of trainers, security forces and other support troops, according to the officials.

Before he was a presidential candidate, Trump ardently argued for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan and called the war a massive waste of U.S. “blood and treasure.” On Monday, he suggested an open-ended commitment rather than a “timebased” approach.

“Conditions on the ground — not arbitrary timetables — will guide our strategy from now on,” Trump said.

At its peak involvement in 2010-11, the U.S. had roughly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama then started bringing them home, drawing criticism for the advance timetables he provided for his planned drawdown and ultimate withdrawal of forces. Trump was among those who argued that Obama was aiding the enemy by telegraphing U.S. intentions. On Monday, Trump said he wouldn’t discuss troop numbers, military tactics or timetables. “America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out,” he said.

While such reticence may have a military rationale, the American public may insist that it has a right to know how many of its citizens are waging a war overseas in its name.

Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government welcomed Trump’s strategy, with President Ashraf Ghani saying it will help stabilize the region. Allies responded positively, too. Germany, which contributes 950 troops in northern Afghanistan, approved the U.S. readiness for a “longterm commitment” and agreed the military’s continued deployment should be “linked to the conditions on the ground.”

The last Canadian troops, meanwhile, left Afghanistan in 2014 and earlier this year Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he has no intentions of rejoining the mission.

“There are absolutely no plans to send any troops back to Afghanistan,” Trudeau said on June 29.