Trump Adds Afghanistan To List Of Issues That Defy Easy Fix

Despite campaign rhetoric to the contrary, Trump is digging troops in for the long haul

- Toluse Olorunnip

Donald Trump vowed as a presidential candidate to reduce America’s military involvement abroad and quickly defeat Islamic State terrorists. His announcement of an open-ended commitment to Afghanistan to battle jihadists is a concession that as president he cannot meet either promise.

Trump’s shift on Afghanistan is the latest indication of how difficult it has been to deliver on his “only I can fix it” campaign theme, as setbacks and delays on issues including health care, immigration and a tax code overhaul have defied his assurances of easy answers to vexing problems.

“My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts,” Trump said. “But all of my life I heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”

In his prime-time address, Trump stood before a gathering of troops and invoked his study of Afghanistan “in great detail and from every conceivable angle” and months of deliberations by “my cabinet and generals.” He said he will keep American forces engaged there as long as it takes to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, giving the green light to a Defense Department plan to send 4,000 additional personnel.

As with his proposals to revamp the US tax code and repeal Obamacare, the president provided relatively few specifics on how he would proceed. He hasn’t yet been able to deliver a result on either of those priorities. Yet Trump’s move won applause from establishment Republicans including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“I’m pleased with the decision,” Ryan said at a CNN town hall after the speech. “We cannot allow another safe haven for terrorists to materialise again.”