The Trump administration and military officials may be in disagreement over the choice to keep C.I.A presence in Afghanistan if troops are pulled from the nation, according to a Monday New York Times report.
The Times reports that some White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the agency’s presence in the nation — a move that some current and former officials have expressed skepticism about.
The C.I.A. and White House did not comment for the story, but the newspaper said it based the report off interviews with a half-dozen of current or former officials briefed on the discussions. The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.
Some officials told the paper they want C.I.A-backed forces in the country as part of a counterterrorism force. They claim it could quell worries that the U.S. will be left with little ability to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghanistan as a base of operations in the U.S. pulls troops, as President Trump suggested will happen last week.
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Update #1: Trump Administration Officials at Odds Over C.I.A.’s Role in Afghanistan (The New York Times)
Update #2: New York Times: Trump administration officials split over future CIA presence in Afghanistan (CNN)
WNU Editor: I am sure the CIA is going to be active in Afghanistan regardless on what happens after a U.S. - Taliban peace deal has been agreed upon.
What is the strategic importance of Afghanistan? Give the job to India and a little bit of support of material and money.
ReplyDeleteLook at that picture. How comfortable these guys hold their RPGs. Tells you everything you need to know about their combat experience. Sure. .we can keep training 18 year olds, send them around the world and fight a demoralising fight on unknown territory with all the supply chain disadvantages that come with it. Or, we finally realise that unless we're willing to kill a much higher number than we're doing now ,this is a losing war because these guys over there grow up holding an AK or an RPG as young as 8 years old. They have perhaps a decade of first hand combat experience before our guys even hit boot camp. And their motivation is also much higher.
ReplyDelete