President Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged that his newly announced strategy for the war in Afghanistan was at odds with his previous statements on the subject.
“My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts,” Trump said in a nationally televised address at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia. “But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”
In 2013 and 2014, Trump called for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and harshly criticized former President Barack Obama’s strategy.
Do not allow our very stupid leaders to sign a deal that keeps us in Afghanistan through 2024-with all costs by U.S.A. MAKE AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2013
We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Their government has zero appreciation. Let's get out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2013
Now Obama is keeping our soldiers in Afghanistan for at least another year. He is losing two wars simultaneously.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2014
Trump said in his address that in studying the conflict, he came to “three fundamental conclusions about America’s core interests in Afghanistan.”
“First, our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made,” Trump said.
His second conclusion, Trump said, was that “the consequences of a rapid exit” would be “both predictable and unacceptable.”
“A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al-Qaeda, would instantly fill just as happened before Sept. 11,” he said. “Third and finally, I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader region are immense.”
Trump lamented that when he entered office, he “was given a bad and very complex hand,” and said his decisions would mean U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan would “change dramatically.”
Is war as difficult as healthcare?
So, where’s the famous thirty-day plan to defeat ISIS that he boasted about? It’s almost like he wasn’t telling the truth on the campaign trail!
He wasn’t?
Trump has repudiated every single thing he has tweeted in the last 8 years condemning Obama policy on Afghanistan, and all Trump offers by way of apology is that things are “different when you’re president.”
I guess that would include the decisions made by Obama, who was a legitimate and appreciated President by the majority of sentient people despite your efforts to undermine him at every turn. I’d have to say, your apology rings a tad hollow, you repugnant piece of shit.
I would say we should send all our militia folks over there. But honestly, the Afghani people do not deserve that much hate.