Pence surprises troops in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday for an unannounced visit with U.S. troops, many of whom were just children when war began here more than 16 years ago.

Pence’s journey was shrouded in secrecy, and only a few members of his own staff knew about the preparations. He slipped out of Washington on Wednesday afternoon so that he could arrive at Bagram Airfield near Kabul long after the sun had set Thursday. He traveled in a nondescript C-17 instead of a traditionally labeled Air Force 2.

In the dark of night, he traveled via helicopter to the Presidential Palace in Kabul, where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom he regularly communicates with on behalf of President Donald Trump.

“I hope my presence here is tangible evidence” of the Trump administration’s commitment to Afghanistan, Pence said in the opening minutes of a meeting with Ghani and his staff.

After meeting for about 45 minutes, Pence returned to the airfield and spoke to about 500 troops for 20 minutes. He opened his remarks by passing along greetings from Trump, who has yet to visit a combat zone as president.

“Under President Donald Trump, the armed forces of the United States will remain engaged in Afghanistan until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland, to our people, once and for all,” Pence said in his speech to troops.

That commitment marks a bit of a shift for Trump, who as a candidate repeatedly questioned why the United States was still involved in Afghanistan and why it was spending so much money there. He called the war a “terrible mistake” but acknowledged that pulling out of the country at this point would lead to its collapse.

In August, Trump announced that the United States would continue its involvement in Afghanistan, saying that his first instinct was to pull out but that he changed his mind because “decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”

Pence was supposed to travel to Egypt and Israel this week, but aides said he canceled his plans at the last minute so he could stay in Washington in case his vote was needed to break a tie on the tax-cut package in the Senate.