President Donald Trump’s recent turn-around on Afghanistan proves he is a very capable president and commander-in-chief. While some of his steadfast supporters may criticize him for reneging on a campaign promise, there is much more “there” on his decision to double-down in Afghanistan. I, too, was looking forward to a pull-out from the graveyard of empires, but after listening to Trump’s new strategy for prosecuting the war in Afghanistan, I can see the wisdom in his decision and obvious wise counsel from his national security team.
To be successful in any conflict, all instruments of power must be engaged — to date, only a fraction of the military arm has been employed. Unfortunately, the United States’ vast diplomatic, informational and economic instruments of power have been a no-show in Afghanistan and the military victory achieved in 2003 devolved into a political quagmire under the last three presidents. Today’s strategy includes all the instruments of power, but clearly with no blank check, especially in regards to time.
No blank check for the military instrument; don’t expect much time will be given nor an endless supply of troops. The military has committed to winning and has been given the reins to work more freely without daily targeting decisions being issued from the White House situation room. Insane rules of engagement that have hampered our generals and wrongly imprisoned our young lieutenants will now allow the military to permanently change the hearts and minds of the enemy. It’s time for the military to pull out all the stops; it must not be allowed an excuse to fail.
No blank check for the State Department. On the contrary, Secretary Rex Tillerson will have to light a fire under diplomats to get them engaged; he is the man to do it. Much coordination is needed with the Afghan government, its neighbors and NATO allies. Part of the no-blank-check stipulation is that the U.S. is not going into this next phase alone; we cannot want success more than the Afghan people or others in the region. The status quo of complacency and enabling of terrorists organizations will be a non-starter. The diplomatic and economic efforts required under this new campaign are the most daunting and complicated, with a very low chance of success. Trump and Tillerson will have to pull a rabbit out of their hats — but any efforts will be a welcome relief to Afghanistan and neighboring countries compared to that of previous administrations. Don’t write this one off yet.
No blank check for the intelligence community; career analysts and advisers must stand up and be counted. The time for interagency squabbles and stonewalling is over. It’s time to provide real-time intelligence to operators, to make life-and-death recommendations even though perfect information will never be available. Put eyes on the target and not on political games being played domestically.
Trump is right to give our military a fighting chance and in setting key conditions that must be met to continue in Afghanistan. The three-legged stool (defense, diplomacy and development) of foreign policy will have a score card for this go-around. Many players, foreign and domestic, have a crucial role to stabilize each of its legs — the odds are not in their favor. But to cut and run without one last, real try would be very unlike Trump; he is not a quitter. Whatever the outcome, the president will not have the patience, justifiably so, to drag this out past his current term. He is in it to win it or cut bait, if he finds the United States all alone in the process.
Al Frenzel, of Makaha, is a retired U.S. Army colonel who taught at the U.S. Army War College.
