Trump expands Afghanistan operation

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced Monday night plans to deploy thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, promising a victory in America’s longest-running war. The United States first deployed soldiers in Afghanistan nearly 16 years ago, responding to the 9/11 terror attacks. The original goal was to snuff out terror groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but military strategies have deviated across administrations. The president criticized his predecessors for telegraphing their moves in Afghanistan and vowed not to tell the enemy when he will scale down U.S. military operations. “Conditions on the ground—not arbitrary timetables—will guide our strategy from now on,” Trump said in the televised speech to the nation from Fort Myer in Arlington, Va. “America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will.” Democrats criticized the president for refusing to provide more specifics. “When President Trump says there will be no ceiling on the number of troops and no timeline for withdrawal, he is declaring an open-ended commitment of American lives with no accountability to the American people,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. But most Republicans, including past Trump critics Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona, praised Trump’s speech. “I commend President Trump for taking a big step in the right direction with the new strategy for Afghanistan,” McCain said in a statement. “The unfortunate truth is that this strategy is long overdue, and in the interim, the Taliban have made dangerous inroads. Nevertheless, I believe the president is now moving us well beyond the prior administration’s failed strategy of merely postponing defeat.”