Laurel Miller, New York Times: A Peace ‘Surge’ to End War in Afghanistan
President Trump has no easy options in Afghanistan. An abrupt United States military exit would probably provoke the collapse of an Afghan state deeply dependent on American backing, while a major reinforcement — a reprise of the Obama administration’s initial approach — would be tough to support given that it didn’t work last time.
The modest increase of a few thousand troops widely reported to be under consideration promises to do little more than buy time by arresting the downward security slide.
President Barack Obama conducted a “surge” of American military resources in Afghanistan in a bid to turn the corner on the war. But Mr. Obama didn’t complete the subsequent scheduled military withdrawal because the closer the deadlines came, the less tolerable the danger of security collapse became. His administration only tepidly tried to negotiate a political settlement of the conflict.
President Trump could do the opposite: move boldly to negotiate peace, while making a limited additional military investment to deny the Taliban military victory.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 24, 2017
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Afghanistan's Young Liberal Elites Challenge the Taliban -- Susanne Koelbl, Spiegel Online
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