I’m writing my memo on the state of affairs in Afghanistan and what decisions the next president will have to make. I checked out Trump’s and Hillary’s websites for their positions on Afghanistan and found nothing. This WSJ “on the issues” piece on foreign policy also mentions nothing about the conflict. The longest war in American history is barely being discussed on the campaign trail.
If the lack of coverage on Afghanistan led you to believe that the situation is under control, you’d be wrong. The next president will have to decide what to do with the 9,800 U.S. troops there and will have to exercise extraordinary diplomacy to keep the fragile National Unity Government from collapsing. Divisions and corruption in the young democracy have created a vacuum that the Taliban has filled.
Pakistan has continued to aid the Taliban and promote instability in the country for it’s own benefit. Additionally, ISIS has emerged in the country adding an additional layer of complexity to the situation. The next president will have some difficult choices to make in Afghanistan but ISIS, Syria, and the activities of Russia and China has shifted much of the attention away our 15 year war in the country.