Barack Obama’s original plan to restrict military action in the Middle East could be undermined by Trump who wants to increase American troops in Afghanistan. As advised by his foreign policy advisers. The renewed military strategy, if approved, could put U.S. at a war footing with the Taliban.
The Washington Post reports, 8,400 American soldiers are posted in Afghanistan for the last 15 years. With the new strategy, another 3,000 US troops would be added to the already existing 8,400 soldiers.
“The review is an opportunity to send a message that, yes, the U.S. is going to send more troops, but it’s not to achieve a forever military victory,” said Andrew Wilder, an Afghanistan expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. “Rather, it’s to try to bring about a negotiated end to this conflict.”
There are those who see the new military policy as the shortest way of making the Taliban cave to the pressures of the Western forces. Experts have tried to predict the life risk for the American troops. It would free the Pentagon to use any means necessary to neutralize the threat posed by the Taliban and force the latter to open up fresh negotiations.
The strategy would reverse the efforts made by Obama’s administration to limit military interference in Afghanistan. After Obama was re-elected in 2013, he famously maintained that he had two major agendas on his plate that he planned to fulfil as soon as possible – “ending the war in Iraq responsibly” and “finishing the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.” according to The Atlantic.
