U.S. Is ‘Not Winning’ in Afghanistan. Mattis Promises to Change That.
By MICHAEL R. GORDONJUNE 13, 2017
Alluding to the troop reinforcement plan under consideration, General Dunford said the United States and allies could help reduce the substantial number of casualties
that Afghan forces have sustained by "more effectively advising them, both in planning operations and delivering combined arms." One argument that proponents have made for sending more troops is that it would enable the United States to advise Afghan units closer to the battlefield.
The idea, he said, would be drive down the violence to a level
that it could be managed by Afghan government forces with the help of American and allied troops in training their Afghan counterparts, providing intelligence and delivering what Mr. Mattis called "high-end capability," an apparent allusion to airpower and possibly Special Operations Forces.
"It’s going to require a change in our approach from the last several years." The main purpose of the hearing was to review the Trump administration’s
$603 billion military spending request, which represents a 3 percent increase over President Barack Obama’s last defense plan.
While Mr. Trump has vowed to defeat terrorist groups
that might threaten the United States, sending more American forces to Afghanistan would probably cost billions of dollars, with no guarantee of producing a clear win.
The Pentagon officials asserted that the current spending request would help the military improve the readiness of its existing forces while
3 to 5 percent growth would be needed during the 2019 to 2023 budget years to expand the size of the military and buy new weapons.
An estimated 9,800 American troops are deployed to Afghanistan, most of which are assigned to an
international force of about 13,000 troops that are training and advising the Afghan military.