U.S. senators say new strategy needed to win in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain visited Kabul Tuesday for U.S. Independence Day, meeting with Afghan government leaders and military officials to discuss the more than 16-year-long war in Afghanistan.

The visit comes as President Donald Trump’s administration works to prepare a new Afghan war strategy amid a resurgent Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate in the country.

McCain, an Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters after the meetings that the U.S. needs to have a new strategy to win in Afghanistan, but that “the strongest nation on earth should be able to win this conflict.”

“They (Taliban) are not going to negotiate unless they think they are losing,” he added. “So we need to win and have the advantage on the battlefield, and then enter into a serious negotiation to resolve the conflict.”

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he would tell Trump after returning home that 8,600 American troops currently in Afghanistan “will not get the job done” and that more American troops, along with more NATO troops, should be deployed to “turn stalemate into success.”

Earlier Tuesday, a senior police official was killed by a bomb planted in his car in Kabul, according to Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for the police chief in the Afghan capital.

And on Monday, a U.S. drone strike killed four IS militants, including Hazrat Gul, a senior commander, in a mountainous area in eastern Kunar province controlled by the militant group, according to the provincial governor, Waheedullah Kalimzai.

The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is drawn largely from disgruntled former Taliban fighters. It operates mostly in eastern Afghanistan, where it has clashed with Afghan forces, as well as the more established Taliban.

The senators also visited with U.S. troops while in Afghanistan.