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TheCount
06-14-2017, 09:41 AM
President Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to determine troop levels in Afghanistan, three administration officials said Tuesday, opening the door for sending more American forces to a war that the Pentagon chief acknowledged the United States was “not winning.”


Mr. Mattis is believed to favor sending several thousand more American troops to strengthen the effort to advise Afghan forces as they push back against gains made by the Taliban, the Islamic State and other militant groups. But officials said he had not yet decided how many more forces to send to Afghanistan, or when to deploy them.


One United States official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal deliberations, said that Mr. Trump decided on Tuesday morning to grant Mr. Mattis the authority. It was the latest in a series of moves by the White House to give the Pentagon and its military commanders more latitude to deploy forces and carry out operations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/world/asia/mattis-afghanistan-military.html

William Tell
06-14-2017, 09:42 AM
In b4 dannno says this is brilliant and fake news at the same time

nikcers
06-14-2017, 09:58 AM
live stream

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DXpE5jcQhM8/mqdefault.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpE5jcQhM8)
Gen. Mattis Admits Afghanistan Truth: After 15 Years, No End In Sight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpE5jcQhM8)RonPaulLibertyReport (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ1N-7g9Q6n7KnriGit-Ig)

Sola_Fide
06-14-2017, 10:00 AM
In b4 dannno says this is brilliant and fake news at the same time

You just watch. Trump is going to go full non interventionist after this.

timosman
06-14-2017, 10:47 AM
I thought we were winning the war on terror for the last 15 years. Hearts and minds too!
How much winning can we take? :cool:

CPUd
06-14-2017, 11:42 AM
Well at least he's not trying to get into a boondoggle. Hopefully we can deliver freedom to the people and defeat the evildoers once and for all.

timosman
06-14-2017, 11:43 AM
Is anybody going to be held responsible for 15 years of failures?:rolleyes:

TheCount
06-14-2017, 12:10 PM
Is anybody going to be held responsible for 15 years of failures?:rolleyes:The American people, every day.

Zippyjuan
06-14-2017, 05:29 PM
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/trump-military-total-authorization-afghanistan-iraq

From April:


Trump: I'm giving the military 'total authorization'


WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday called the recent high-profile military actions overseas proof that he’s fulfilling his promise to let defense leaders act decisively without interference from politicians.

“What I do is I authorize my military,” in response to a press question about the use of a massive bomb in an assault on Islamic State group positions in Afghanistan. “We have the greatest military in the world, and they’ve done the job, as usual. We have given them total authorization, and that’s what they’re doing.

“Frankly, that’s why they’ve been so successful lately. If you look at what’s happened over the last eight weeks and compare that really to what has happened over the last eight years, you’ll see there is a tremendous difference.”

The Afghanistan airstrike — the first battlefield use of the military’s Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon — on Thursday was the latest in a series of large scale, sometimes controversial military actions by the Defense Department in Trump’s first three months in office.

Earlier this month, the military fired nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield in response to chemical weapons use by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. In January, U.S. special operations forces conducted a raid against an al-Qaida compound in Yemen that resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL and several civilians.

Pentagon leaders have also come under scrutiny for an airstrike in Iraq in March that killed more than 100 civilians, due to incomplete information supplied by friendly forces on the ground.


Two weeks later: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/27/trump-gives-mattis-authority-set-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html


Trump Gives Mattis Authority to Set Troop Levels in Iraq, Syria

In a major reversal of Obama administration policy, President Donald Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis broad authority to set troop levels in Iraq and Syria, according to the Pentagon.

The number of troops deployed, the so-called "Force Management Levels," was the closely held prerogative of the White House under former President Obama. But in a statement Thursday night, the Pentagon said, "The president has delegated authority to the secretary of defense to determine force management levels (FML) for Iraq and Syria."



And a month earlier: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cia-drones-idUSKBN16K2SE


Trump gives CIA authority to conduct drone strikes: WSJ

President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency new authority to conduct drone attacks against suspected militants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing U.S. officials.

The move would be a change from the policy of former President Barack Obama's administration of limiting the CIA's paramilitary role, the newspaper reported. (on.wsj.com/2mlgyS9)

The White House, the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.



I guess he isn't really Commander in Chief anymore.

RJB
06-14-2017, 05:43 PM
Is anybody going to be held responsible for 15 years of failures?:rolleyes:

You can start by hanging your head in shame and voting for someone who promises change.

Swordsmyth
06-14-2017, 05:50 PM
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/trump-military-total-authorization-afghanistan-iraq

From April:



Two weeks later: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/04/27/trump-gives-mattis-authority-set-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html



And a month earlier: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cia-drones-idUSKBN16K2SE



I guess he isn't really Commander in Chief anymore.

If we were in a declared war that was just, I would applaud these moves to let the experts do their jobs.
But we should not be over "there" at all, so this is just lawlessness.

Zippyjuan
06-14-2017, 06:01 PM
You can start by hanging your head in shame and voting for someone who promises change.

All candidates promise change. Unless they are trying to get re-elected.

RJB
06-14-2017, 06:03 PM
All candidates promise change. Unless they are trying to get re-elected.

That's what my sarcasm was based on.

TheCount
06-16-2017, 09:44 AM
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will send almost 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan, a Trump administration official said Thursday, hoping to break a stalemate in a war that has now passed to a third U.S. commander in chief. The deployment will be the largest of American manpower under Donald Trump's young presidency.

The decision by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis could be announced as early as next week, the official said. It follows Trump's move to give Mattis the authority to set troop levels and seeks to address assertions by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan that he doesn't have enough forces to help Afghanistan's army against a resurgent Taliban insurgency. The rising threat posed by Islamic State extremists, evidenced in a rash of deadly attacks in the capital city of Kabul, has only fueled calls for a stronger U.S. presence, as have several recent American combat deaths.

The bulk of the additional troops will train and advise Afghan forces, according to the administration official, who wasn't authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A smaller number would be assigned to counterterror operations against the Taliban and IS, the official said.



http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/about-4-000-more-us-troops-to-go-to-afghanistan

CPUd
06-16-2017, 12:03 PM
875734844688539648
https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/875734844688539648

enhanced_deficit
12-05-2020, 02:33 AM
If scary super alpha Deep State had not pressured Commander-in-Chief then, the longest war would have been ended in 2017 and there would have been no room for such shenanigans near the end of his term.


Defense bill seeks to halt Afghanistan drawdown

By Rebecca Kheel - 12/03/20 06:04 PM EST

The compromise defense policy bill released Thursday includes language aimed at preventing a withdrawal from Afghanistan amid President Trump’s order to cut U.S. forces there to 2,500 by mid-January.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would block funding to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan until the Pentagon, State Department and director of national intelligence assess how a drawdown would affect threats to the United States, among other criteria.

thehill.com/policy/defense/528686-defense-bill-seeks-to-halt-afghanistan-drawdown




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Trump chooses not to withdraw from Afghanistan, Iraq (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?550628-Trump-chooses-not-to-withdraw-from-Afghanistan-Iraq&)