Trump falls for same old losing strategy
President Donald Trump’s Afghanistan policy in a nutshell? Something old, nothing new, something borrowed, a big switcheroo.
From the flip-flopper in chief, in his own words (as compiled by the Democratic National Committee): April 2011. Bill O’Reilly: “You would withdraw U.S. troops out of Afghanistan?” Trump: “Yes I would.” December 2011. Trump: “I would get out quickly. It’s just — it’s never going to be good.” February 2012. Trump: “It is time to get out of Afghanistan.” March 2012. Trump: “Let’s get with it. Get out of Afghanistan.” August 2012. Trump: “Afghanistan is a complete waste. Time to come home!” November 2012. Trump: “It is time to get out and rebuild our own nation.” December 2012. Trump: “Get out now and re-build U.S.” January 2013. Trump: “I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan. We should have a speedy withdrawal.” March 2013. Trump: “We should leave Afghanistan immediately. No more wasted lives.” November 2013. Trump: “We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan . . Let’s get out!”
Comes now Trump’s Monday night Afghanistan backward handspring: “The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable . . . . A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al-Qaida, would instantly fill . . . The security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader region are immense.”
Ta-da, the Trump policy: Stay in Afghanistan, up the ante with more troops, but if asked, don’t tell how many or for how long. And add a rhetorical flourish: “I’m a problem-solver . . . . We will win.” Nothing new here, folks. Trump even took a page out of former president Barack Obama’s playbook to debut his policy. Obama chose an assembly of West Point cadets in December 2009 to announce his escalation of the Afghanistan war effort. Trump stayed closer to home, using as a backdrop a military gathering at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va.
Trump’s message, however, stripped and unadorned, was just about the same as his predecessor’s.
Obama served up the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan as “the epicenter of violent extremism” and an enduring test for the United States. Trump, as did Obama before him, described the region in a similar way and adopted the Obama goal of denying al-Qaeda a haven, reversing the Taliban’s momentum and strengthening the capacity of Afghan security forces to defend and protect their own country.
Trump, as did Obama before him, heard the pleas of the rulers of Afghanistan: Just give us a little more time — along with your money and warm, well-armed American bodies — and one day down the road, we’ll be able to evolve into a corruption-free country. Obama fell for it. So has Trump. Same old, same old.
Colbert I. “Colby” King is a columnist for The Washington Post.