Senators Call For Strategy in Afghanistan

A bipartisan group of senators traveled to Afghanistan over Independence Day and called on President Donald Trump to articulate a clear strategy in the Afghanistan War, the longest war in U.S. history.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led the delegation. He was joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA).

In a press briefing at NATO headquarters in Kabul on Tuesday, McCain asserted that, "none of us would say that we are on a course to success here in Afghanistan... That needs to change and quickly."

Warren, on her first foreign trip since being seated on the Armed Services Committee, called for a clear, comprehensive, multi-level strategy:

"A solution needs to have a military angle, but also an economic and diplomatic plan. It needs to involve domestic political reconciliation, and it needs to be regional in nature, involving multiple countries in the area and account for external actors and influences. The administration owes it to the American people and to our men and women putting their lives at risk, to provide that clear vision of where we’re headed."

The senators specifically called for the immediate filling of key diplomatic positions that remain empty since the onset of the current administration. There is currently no permanent American ambassador to Afghanistan. The position is currently being filled by Hugo Llorens, a career diplomat, who was pulled in from retirement to deal with the complicated diplomatic situation temporarily.

The New York Times also notes that, "many of the senior positions in the State Department dealing with regional policy remain vacant, and the position of special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan was recently scrapped."

Sen. Graham told reporters, "All of us realize that it’s more than just dropping bombs that will win in Afghanistan… Secretary Tillerson needs to come to Afghanistan quickly."

Supporting the U.S.-backed Afghan government, and negotiating between constantly competing factions, has consumed diplomats in the region for more than two years. Recently the Taliban has claimed more and more territory across the country from coalition and government troops. Reuters reports that the Taliban insurgency now controls or contests some 40 percent of Afghan territory.

President Trump announced in June that he was giving the responsibility for assessing necessary additional troop levels to the Pentagon, though the president is still required to sign off on an overall strategy. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to announce a new strategy for the conflict in mid-July. A troop increase of several thousand to augment the 8,800 troops already in the country is likely to be part of the plan.

Pentagon officials have also hinted that they will not put a timeline on maintaining the increased troop levels, suggesting there is no end in sight for the 16 year old war.

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons)