In what was a highly anticipated speech to the American public, and the world, President Donald Trump was to have given his plans for Afghanistan, a 16 year old commitment to American lives,and money, on Monday, but instead offered little little of consequence, saying only that the U.S. would be prepared to attack.
In one way, the speech seemed hardly necessary without the detail, and only seemed to sustain the view that he was a bystander, and not a leader, on the world stage, just as his domestic agenda was thwarted at nearly every turn, by either appeal courts, or lack of support; much it from his own party.
Saying that “conditions on the ground, not arbitrary time tables will guide our strategy, from now on,” he again echoed his own anti-Obama strategy, and again, incorrectly tried to link the rise of ISIS to the announced withdrawal from Iraq, under President Barack Obama. For some, this reference seemed to be one of the more galling aspect of the Trump presidency that seems to lack a core foreign policy.
Currently there are 8,400 troops in Afghanistan providing training, advising and assistance to the Afghan troops. The Pentagon has recommended an additional increase of 4,000 troops, according to sources, but the president did not give numbers, only that the nation would be prepared for an attack, should it be necessary, but some say the Pentagon announcement could come as early as next week.
Democratic minority leader, Nancy Pelosi in her prepared statement, noted that the address was “low on details and raised serious questions.” Joining her in this, was Sen, Jack Reed, (D-R.i) who wondered how any policies in this area could be conducted with still vacant positions in the State Department, and proposed cuts, for more in budget proposals.
In the absence of advisor Steve Bannon, perhaps this is all that Trump could come up with, without a plan from his chief architect whose “shock and awe” plans, like that of the much maligned Muslim travel ban, sputtered and faltered, as it floundered in the appeals courts, across the country.
Bannon whose departure, after run-ins with people such as Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, was announced by the White House, as by mutual consent, but was far from that as he not only roughed up other key staff members, but went beyond talking points in an interview with a liberal journal, where in effect, he said, with North Korea, the U.S. would be toast, and “they got us.”
Trump is known not to like anyone that gets more press attention than he, so this was Bannon’s swan song, spun by the White House that he was just looking for the right time to leave. This of course is as about as disingenuous as another Washington exit line, “I want to spend more time with my family.”
If the trouble with Trump is Trump, then it gives pause as to who can help him craft the message, make the agenda, and keep the deliverer stay on script. The exodus of administrative staff is beginning to read like a laundry list: Bannon, Priebus, Spicer, and Scaramucci.
The biggest gaffe, and perhaps, the most regrettable words, blaming “both sides” in the Charlottesville conflagration, has cost Trump, even the semblance of moral leadership, even from the GOP, from by such now reliable critics as Jeff Flake and Lindsay Graham, and whom for the former, has gone off the rails and called him names. But, then after last year’s election, is this any surprise?
For some observers and critics the general admonishment over what many have seen as racist remarks (plus the endorsement by Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke) of support for white supremacists is the last stand, and the replayed remarks will not go away.
With his poll ratings at only 40 percent approval, his global standing, has also suffered, after tentative relations, after the election. Angela Merkel of Germany has told her leadership that they are in it alone, and the tart admonishment of England’s Prime Minister Theresa May, over national security leaks, is even more worrisome after nearly seven months of his presidency.
While Monday’s remarks gave little of substance, many are trying to predict the future: will Trump get censured for his post Charlottesville remarks? Will there be impeachment proceedings, begun in earnest? All are up for grabs.
Some White House sources, are saying on deep background, that Vice President Pence, when he enters the Oval Office, looks longingly at the Resolute Desk.
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