WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday promised to deliver a new military strategy for Afghanistan to lawmakers by mid-July, a timeline months behind what some members of Congress had anticipated.
Rumors of a U.S. military build-up in Afghanistan have circulated around Capitol Hill for months, since the commander of United States Forces Afghanistan in February testified that several thousand more troops will be needed to break the “stalemate” in the fight against terrorist groups there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, Mattis told House lawmakers that military officials are taking a “regional approach” to the Afghanistan fight, and are in the final stages of presenting that plan to Trump. He told senators Tuesday that military officials are taking steps to make sure the delay in the new strategy is not endangering U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mattis acknowledged the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan has entered “a strategy-free time” but said rushing the new plan could risk disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCain, who has been a frequent critic of the Trump White House\u2019s operations, told Mattis that much of the new administration\u2019s national security planning is “beyond your control” but said the new strategy is needed as lawmakers finalize their budget plans for the upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
“Congress owes the American people a strategy,” the Arizona senator said, adding that the families of three U.S soldiers killed in Afghanistan last weekend “know we don\u2019t have a strategy now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 8,500 U.S. troops and another 5,000 other foreign allies are still stationed in Afghanistan, even though the official combat mission there ended in 2014. Nearly 2,400 U.S. troops have been killed in fighting in Afghanistan since 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n