Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.
Federal policy on Afghanistan, 2017-2018
Trump Administration (first term)  Vice President Mike Pence Cabinet • White House staff • Transition team • Trump's second term |
Domestic affairs: Abortion • Crime and justice • Education • Energy and the environment • Federal courts • Firearms policy • First Amendment • Healthcare • Immigration • Infrastructure • LGBTQ issues • Marijuana • Puerto Rico • Social welfare programs • Veterans • Voting issues Economic affairs and regulations: Agriculture and food policy • Budget • Financial regulation • Jobs • Social Security • Taxes • Trade Foreign affairs and national security: Afghanistan • Arab states of the Persian Gulf • China • Cuba • Iran • Iran nuclear deal • Islamic State and terrorism • Israel and Palestine • Latin America • Military • NATO • North Korea • Puerto Rico • Russia • Syria • Syrian refugees • Technology, privacy, and cybersecurity |
| Polling indexes: Opinion polling during the Trump administration |
Ballotpedia's scope changes periodically, and this article type is no longer actively created or maintained. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
On August 21, 2017, during a nationally televised speech from Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia, President Donald Trump announced that his administration would expand U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, put more pressure on Pakistan for harboring terrorists, and execute a military strategy based on conditions on the ground instead of arbitrary timetables to win the nearly 16-year-old war in Afghanistan. Trump said, “From now on, victory will have a clear definition: attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al-Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.”[1]
Trump did not say how many members of the U.S. military would be sent to Afghanistan to end the stalemate. He left the exact number up to Secretary of Defense James Mattis who announced on September 18, 2017, that over 3,000 troops would be sent.[1][2]
This page tracked major events and policy positions of the Trump administration and the 115th United States Congress on Afghanistan from 2017 and 2018. This page was updated through 2018. Think something is missing? Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Major events and policy announcements:
- January 4, 2018: State Department suspends security assistance to Pakistan for failure to combat terrorism
- January 2, 2018: U.S. withholds $255 million in aid from Pakistan for failing to fight terrorism
- September 27, 2017: Mattis meets with Ghani; terrorist groups target Mattis in attack on Kabul airport
- September 18, 2017: Mattis announces that over 3,000 additional members of the military would be sent to Afghanistan
- August 31, 2017: U.S. withholds military aid to Pakistan; says it must address terrorism
- August 30, 2017: DoD says there were 11,000 service members in Afghanistan, not 8,400, as previously reported
- August 21, 2017: Trump announces strategy in Afghanistan
- June 13, 2017: Trump lets Mattis set troop levels in Afghanistan
- April 13, 2017: U.S. drops largest non-nuclear bomb on IS in Afghanistan
January 4, 2018: State Department suspends security assistance to Pakistan for failure to combat terrorism
On January 4, 2018, the State Department announced that it would suspend security assistance to Pakistan, stating that the country had failed to combat terrorism. According to The Washington Post, an administration official estimated that a total of $2 billion in assistance would be suspended.[3]
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that the U.S. would suspend military equipment deliveries, transfers of security-related funds, and reimbursements to the Pakistani government for money spent on conducting counterterrorism operations. She said, “Until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network, we consider them to be destabilizing the region and also targeting personnel.” She added that there “may be some exceptions that are made on a case-by-case basis if determined to be critical to national security interests.”[4]
Later in the day, a State Department spokesperson discussed the administration’s decision to suspend security assistance. The spokesperson said,
| “ | What I would say is that the Pakistanis have repeatedly underscored that they support the South Asia strategy and they support our objectives in the strategy, but they have publicly disagreed with us on what we believe is happening on the ground. I mean, it is no surprise to any of you because I’m sure you’ve heard the Pakistanis say it over and – repeatedly, that they deny that there are safe havens. They deny that they provide any kind of sanctuary to the Haqqani Network or to the Taliban. And they state that their leverage over the Haqqani Network and the Taliban is very limited.
We need Pakistan to succeed in South Asia. I mean, Pakistan is a critical country. It’s about to become the fifth largest country in the world, a nuclear-armed country. Success in Afghanistan relies on better – the Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, and it relies on Pakistan being an active, constructive player in the South Asia strategy. And although they have repeatedly stated that they want to be, the actions that we need of them so far have not taken place. The bottom line is that we can’t continue to have a relationship that has business as usual with Pakistan. This conversation is not new to this administration. There have been concerns about Pakistan’s – and I focused on the issue of sanctuaries for the Haqqani Network and the Taliban, but we have concerns about their nuclear program; we have concerns about the ability of anti-India groups like Lashkar-e Tayyiba and Jaish-e Mohammed to fundraise and operate; and Hafiz Saeed, the head of Lashkar-e Tayyiba, who was recently released from house arrest. All of these issues have been a feature of our relationship or a feature of our conversation with Pakistan for many years, and this administration felt that we needed to take additional steps to underscore that we’re not going to be able to continue the relationship on autopilot; we can’t continue a status quo relationship; we need to be able to move beyond these challenges and put our relationship on more solid footing.[6] |
” |
On January 5, 2018, the Pakistani government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the following statement:[7]
| “ | We are engaged with the US Administration on the issue of security cooperation and await further details. Impact of US' decision on pursuit of common objectives is also likely to emerge more clearly in due course of time. It, however, needs to be appreciated that Pakistan has fought the war against terrorism largely from its own resources which has cost over $120 billion in 15 years. We are determined to continue to do all it takes to secure the lives of our citizens and broader stability in the region.
Working towards enduring peace requires mutual respect and trust along with patience and persistence. Emergence of new and more deadly groups such as Daesh in Afghanistan call for enhancing international cooperation. Arbitrary deadlines, unilateral pronouncements and shifting goalposts are counterproductive in addressing common threats.[6] |
” |
As of January 2018, the U.S. had provided more than $33 billion in assistance to Pakistan since 2002.[4]
January 2, 2018: U.S. withholds $255 million in aid from Pakistan for failing to fight terrorism
On January 2, 2018, U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the United States would withhold $255 million in aid from Pakistan for failing to fight terrorism. She said, “The administration is withholding $255 million in assistance to Pakistan. There are clear reasons for this. Pakistan has played a double game for years. They work with us at times, and they also harbor the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghanistan. That game is not acceptable to this administration. … We expect far more cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. The president is willing to go to great lengths to stop all funding from Pakistan as they continue to harbor and support terrorism.”[8]
On January 3, 2018, President Donald Trump criticized Pakistan for protecting terrorists. He wrote in a tweet, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”[8]
Pakistan denied that it harbored terrorists.[8]
September 27, 2017: Terrorist groups target Mattis in attack on Kabul airport; Mattis meets with Ghani
On September 27, 2017, terrorist groups launched an attack on Kabul’s airport meant to target the plane of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, but Mattis and his staff had already left the airport when the attack occurred.[9]
Both the Taliban and ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Reuters, “high explosive ammunition including mortar rounds” were fired near the main airport and suicide vests were detonated. Afghan special police forces fought back against the attackers, and the U.S. conducted an airstrike to support the Afghan forces on the ground. One of the missiles malfunctioned and struck several civilians.[9]
In a statement, the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support said, “Resolute Support deeply regrets the harm to non-combatants. We take every precaution to avoid civilian casualties, even as the enemies of Afghanistan continue to operate in locations that deliberately put civilians at very high risk.”[9]
Mattis was in Kabul to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Before he knew the details of the attack, Mattis commented on it, saying, “An attack on an international airport anywhere in the world is a criminal act by terrorists. It's designed to go after, generally, innocent people to make some sort of statement, and it's… this is a classic definition of what the Taliban are up to right now. It defines their approach to how they see their role here. And if in fact this is what they have done, they will find the Afghan security forces continuing on the offensive against them in every district of the country right now. So it is what it is, but it's also the reason why we band together and we don't question what we're doing here.”[10]
During the press conference, Mattis was asked about his assessment of how Russia and Iran were supporting the Taliban. Mattis said, “On the role of anybody providing support to the Taliban, I would just put it this way. Terrorism is a scourge for everyone in this world. Those two countries that you mentioned, Tom, have both had… suffered losses due to terrorism. So I think it'd be extremely unwise to think that they can somehow support terrorists in… in another country and not have it come back to haunt them. But I'm not willing to discuss the specifics at this time on those two countries.”[10]
September 18, 2017: Mattis announces that over 3,000 additional members of the military would be sent to Afghanistan
On September 18, 2017, Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced that over 3,000 additional members of the military would be sent to Afghanistan as part of the Trump administration's strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia. Mattis said, “It is exactly over 3,000 somewhat and frankly I haven’t signed the last of the orders right now as we look at specific, small elements that are going."[2]
Before Mattis' announcement, there were around 11,000 members of the U.S. military in Afghanistan. U.S. service members were training, advising, and assisting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the Afghan Security Institutions (ASI) in their fight against the Taliban as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission (RSM). As of March 2017, 6,500 service members from NATO-member countries were part of RSM. About 2,000 U.S. service members conducted counterterrorism missions against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (ISIL-K).[11][12][13]
On February 9, 2017, during a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing, General John W. Nicholson, commander of RSM, said, “We assess the current security situation in Afghanistan as a stalemate.” He requested a few thousand more troops to help with the train, advise, and assist mission, and noted that he had enough support for counterterrorism missions.[12][14][15]
August 31, 2017: U.S. withholds military aid to Pakistan; says it must address terrorism
On August 31, 2017, the State Department announced that it would hold up $255 million in military aid for Pakistan until the country ended its practice of harboring leaders of the Taliban and other terrorist groups. A State Department official said, “Consistent with our new South Asia strategy, this decision allows us the flexibility to continue reviewing our level of cooperation with Pakistan prior to committing new security assistance resources to projects in Pakistan and a strong signal that additional action is needed. Pakistan must ultimately decide for itself the degree to which groups like the Taliban and Haqqani network threaten its place in the international community.”[16]
According to The Wall Street Journal, "The State Department faced a deadline either to give the funds to Pakistan or return them to Congress. So, officials disbursed the funds but placed them on hold, as if in an escrow account, until the Trump administration sees progress. It is unusual for the U.S. to hold up the release of assistance, particularly in the case of a country that doesn’t require a formal U.S. certification of compliance with conditions spelled out by an act of Congress."[16]
The decision was made based on the Trump administration's strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia, which was released on August 21, 2017.
August 30, 2017: DoD says there were 11,000 service members in Afghanistan, not 8,400, as previously reported
After Secretary of Defense James Mattis directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to change how it accounted for members of the military deployed to Afghanistan, the DoD reported that 11,000 service members were serving, not 8,400, as previously reported. The number did not represent an increase in service members, nor did it include any new troops that may go to Afghanistan as part of Trump's military strategy.[17]
According to the DoD, the department’s “previous force management practice disclosed only forces under the force management level, not forces on temporary missions.” Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said, "While this procedure supported operational security, it also reduced unit readiness and transparency. Often, commanders were compelled to reduce the size of deployed units in order to meet theater force management levels and limit the time that units could remain in operational theaters. This way of doing business is over.”[17]
August 21, 2017: Trump announces strategy in Afghanistan
On August 21, 2017, during a nationally televised speech from Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia, Trump announced his administration’s plan for dealing with the nearly 16-year-old war in Afghanistan. He acknowledged that his “original instinct was to pull out” of Afghanistan, but, instead, he decided to remain engaged in the region based on the advice of his Cabinet and military generals. He said that the U.S. would carry out its strategy in Afghanistan by assessing the conditions on the ground and would not use arbitrary timetables as guideposts. Battle plans would not be announced, nor would troop increases or decreases, as they were during the Obama administration. He said, “America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out.” He said that the goal of the U.S. in Afghanistan was to kill terrorists, not nation build. Trump also said that the U.S. would change its strategy in dealing with Pakistan and would punish the nation if it continued to harbor terrorists. Additionally, he said that the U.S. would develop a strategic partnership with India.[1]
The main points from his speech appear below:[1]
- Trump on national unity: Before he announced the strategy in Afghanistan, Trump addressed racial tensions and acts of hate in the country. He said, “When we open our hearts to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice, no place for bigotry, and no tolerance for hate. The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home. We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other. As we send our bravest to defeat our enemies overseas -- and we will always win -- let us find the courage to heal our divisions within. Let us make a simple promise to the men and women we ask to fight in our name that, when they return home from battle, they will find a country that has renewed the sacred bonds of love and loyalty that unite us together as one.”
- Trump on the consequences of a rapid exit from Afghanistan: “A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al Qaeda, would instantly fill, just as happened before September 11th. And, as we know, in 2011, America hastily and mistakenly withdrew from Iraq. As a result, our hard-won gains slipped back into the hands of terrorist enemies. Our soldiers watched as cities they had fought for, and bled to liberate, and won, were occupied by a terrorist group called ISIS. The vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for ISIS to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq.”
- Trump on a conditions-based strategy: “A core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. I’ve said it many times how counterproductive it is for the United States to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin, or end, military options. We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground -- not arbitrary timetables -- will guide our strategy from now on. America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out.”
- Trump on Pakistan: “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists. … But Pakistan has also sheltered the same organizations that try every single day to kill our people. We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately. No partnership can survive a country’s harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. servicemembers and officials. It is time for Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order, and to peace.”
- Trump on having a clear definition of victory in Afghanistan: “From now on, victory will have a clear definition: attacking our enemies, obliterating ISIS, crushing al Qaeda, preventing the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, and stopping mass terror attacks against America before they emerge.”
- Trump on American interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan: “In Afghanistan and Pakistan, America’s interests are clear: We must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten America, and we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us, or anywhere in the world for that matter.”
- Trump on giving the military the tools to be successful: “Finally, my administration will ensure that you, the brave defenders of the American people, will have the necessary tools and rules of engagement to make this strategy work, and work effectively and work quickly. I have already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our warfighters that prevented the Secretary of Defense and our commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy. Micromanagement from Washington, D.C. does not win battles. They are won in the field drawing upon the judgment and expertise of wartime commanders and frontline soldiers acting in real time, with real authority, and with a clear mission to defeat the enemy.”
- Trump on putting an end to nation-building in Afghanistan: “Afghans will secure and build their own nation and define their own future. We want them to succeed. But we will no longer use American military might to construct democracies in faraway lands, or try to rebuild other countries in our own image. Those days are now over. Instead, we will work with allies and partners to protect our shared interests. We are not asking others to change their way of life, but to pursue common goals that allow our children to live better and safer lives. This principled realism will guide our decisions moving forward. … America will work with the Afghan government as long as we see determination and progress. However, our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check. The government of Afghanistan must carry their share of the military, political, and economic burden. The American people expect to see real reforms, real progress, and real results. Our patience is not unlimited."
- Trump on India: "Another critical part of the South Asia strategy for America is to further develop its strategic partnership with India -- the world’s largest democracy and a key security and economic partner of the United States. We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development. We are committed to pursuing our shared objectives for peace and security in South Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region."
June 13, 2017: Trump lets Mattis set troop levels in Afghanistan
On June 13, 2017, Trump gave Secretary of Defense James Mattis the authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan. At the time, troop levels were set at about 8,400.[18]
On June 14, 2017, Mattis commented on the change in policy, saying, "The delegation of this authority does not in itself change the force levels for Afghanistan. Rather, it ensures the Department of Defense can facilitate our missions and align our commitment to the rapidly evolving security situation, giving our troops greater latitude to provide air power and other vital support. Our core mission will remain the same: to train, advise and assist Afghan forces. We are there to help defeat a common enemy and ensure Afghan forces can safeguard the future of their country. This decision is part of a broader strategy we are developing that addresses our role in Afghanistan and beyond. We will present this to the President in the coming weeks. We will continue to work with our allies and we will ask more of them."[19]
On July 23, 2017, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said that Mattis would not deliver his plan for the war in Afghanistan or send more troops to the country until the Trump administration agreed on a formal strategy. Dunford said, "We're not going to do that until after the president has decided on the strategic framework within which our support of the Afghan security forces takes place." Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the NATO Resolute Support Mission, requested 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops to end the stalemate.[20]
April 13, 2017: U.S. drops largest non-nuclear bomb on IS in Afghanistan
On April 13, 2017, an MC-130 aircraft stationed in Afghanistan dropped a GBU-43 bomb—the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used—on the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. The GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), also known as the "mother of all bombs," was used to destroy tunnels and caves used by the branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan, also known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.[21][22]
Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement, "As ISIS-K's losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense. This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against ISIS-K."[21][22]
When asked if he authorized the strike, Trump said, “We have the greatest military in the world, and they’ve done a job as usual so we have given them total authorization. And that’s what they’re doing. And, frankly, that’s why they’ve been so successful lately.”[23]
An Air Force spokeswoman told The Hill that the MOAB is “primarily intended for soft to medium service targets covering extended areas, targets containing environments such as caves or canyons, clearing extensive minefields, and for psychological effects.”[23]
See also
External links
- "Remarks by President Trump on the Strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia," August 21, 2017
- Operation Resolute Support
- NATO Resolute Support Mission (RSM): Key Facts and Figures
- Search Google News for this topic
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 WhiteHouse.gov, "Remarks by President Trump on the Strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia," August 21, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Reuters, "U.S. to send over 3,000 troops to Afghanistan - Mattis," September 18, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Pakistan official accuses U.S. of betrayal after suspension of military aid," January 5, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Hill, "Trump admin suspends security assistance to Pakistan," January 4, 2018
- ↑ State.gov, "Background Briefing with Senior State Department Officials on Security Assistance to Pakistan," January 4, 2018
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, "Latest Press Releases/Speeches," January 5, 2018
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Hill, "Haley: US withholding $255M in aid from Pakistan," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Reuters, "Militants attack Kabul airport during Mattis visit, U.S. strike kills civilians," September 27, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 NATO.int, "Joint press conference," September 28, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Trump ramps up war in Afghanistan, rejects timetables," August 21, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Armed-Services.Senate.gov, Statement for the Record by General John W. Nicholson on the Situation in Afghanistan, February 9, 2017 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "nictest" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ NATO.int, "Resolute Support Mission (RSM): Key Facts and Figures," March 2017
- ↑ Centcom.mil, "Resolute Support Commander: More Troops Needed to Break Afghan 'Stalemate,'" February 9, 2017
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight," August 21, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. to Hold Up Military Aid to Pakistan, Citing Terror Havens," August 31, 2017
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Defense.gov, "Afghanistan Force Management Accounting Change Emphasizes Transparency," August 30, 2017
- ↑ Reuters, "Trump gives U.S. military authority to set Afghan troop levels: U.S. official," June 13, 2017
- ↑ Defense.gov, "Statement by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Afghanistan Troop Levels," June 14, 2017
- ↑ Military.com, "Holdup on Mattis' Strategy for Afghanistan in White House: Dunford," July 31, 2017
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 NBC News, "U.S. Drops ‘Mother of All Bombs’ on ISIS Target in Afghanistan," accessed April 13, 2017
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 ABC News, "US drops 'mother of all bombs' on ISIS forces in Afghanistan," accessed April 13, 2017
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 The Hill, "Why the US dropped the ‘Mother of All Bombs’ in Afghanistan," accessed April 13, 2017
| |||||||||||||||||||
