On Kabul visit, senators say U.S. needs ‘winning strategy’

KABUL, Afghanistan — A bipartisan Senate delegation Tuesday called for more U.S. troops and more aggressive American military action in Afghanistan, as well as pressure on neighboring Pakistan, saying the United States needs “a winning strategy” to end the 16-year war here and prevent the spread of terrorism.

“We are united in our concern that the present situation in Afghanistan is not on a course for success. We need to change that quickly,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a news conference at NATO and U.S. military headquarters in the Afghan capital at the end of a three-day visit to the region.

The Trump administration has been working for several months on a new policy for the war-torn region, where U.S. and Afghan forces have been fighting insurgents for the past 16 years.

Both McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who visited Pakistan and Afghanistan this week with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass., and two other committee members, said they planned to take back a message to President Donald Trump that he needs to adopt a bold military plan for the region but also complement it with a strong and informed diplomatic policy.

Graham said that “throwing more bombs” is not enough, and that the Trump administration needs to put more effort into understanding and influencing regional leaders.

The strategy advocated by U.S. military officials here, who hosted the senators’ visit, would add several thousand U.S. troops, along with a similar number from NATO countries.

They would focus on building a large Afghan special operations force and beefing up the Afghan air force.