Persistent media reports that President Trump has ordered a drawdown
from Afghanistan, with either 5,000 or 7,000 troops returning home,
seemed more or less confirmed. Despite this, some of the highest ranking
Pentagon officials claim to know nothing about it.
Visiting Camp Dahlke West, Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, shrugged off the reports when talking to troops, saying
“there’s all kinds of rumors swirling around,” bt that the mission was unchanged.
This comes after the commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, said
he’d received no orders on any drawdown yet. Miller has followed that up
by saying the fighting will continue until there is a political settlement.
Miller’s comments reflect ongoing efforts to reach such a settlement,
and the reality that the reports don’t suggest a full US withdrawal from
Afghanistan is imminent. Yet it is curious that, after a week of
reports to the contrary, top military brass aren’t confirming a drawdown
as happening at all.
With Mattis gone who is in charge? I don’t think Tweets count as orders.
Dumbford seems to be the sort of guy who claims “the beatings will continue until morale improves”. What hope have we for the future, with these “leaders”?
It’s kinda of hard to demand something when your running for the back door.