Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified before Congress Tuesday, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. is currently “not winning” the struggle to defeat the Taliban, some 15 years after American troops first went into Afghanistan. Mattis has advocated for an increase in American troops—now at some 8,400 soldiers—to counter a recent wave of insurgent attacks and, according to Reuters and NPR, the president has given his defense secretary the authority to set American troop levels in the country.
U.S. reengagement under the Trump administration is a departure from the Obama White House’s efforts to draw down the war. The situation on the ground has changed, however, and the Afghan military is struggling to combat the Taliban and ISIS-affiliates without American assistance. The number of U.S. troops has slowly been increasing as Kabul tries to reestablish control of large portions of the country. According to Reuters, “[t]he Afghan government was assessed by the U.S. military to control or influence just 59.7 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts as of Feb. 20, a nearly 11 percentage-point decrease from the same time in 2016, according to data released by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.”
An updated U.S. strategy is widely considered to be needed in Afghanistan, and Trump has indicated he’s willing to give his generals wide latitude to make decisions. Trump’s hands off management-style when it comes to his role as commander-in-chief, allowing his subordinates, like Mattis, to make calls has worried some observers that there is insufficient civilian oversight of the Pentagon by the Trump White House.
