Donald Trump urged to ‘BREAK the Taliban’ by sending THOUSANDS of troops to Afghanistan
DONALD Trump has been urged to send up to 5,000 troops to Afghanistan in an aim to crush the Taliban insurgency in the country.
Trump has been advised by the US military hierarchy to send extra troops to Afghanistan
The US military have sent recommendations which they claim smash the stalemate more than 15 years after the Islamist government was toppled.
Theresa Whelan, who oversees the Pentagon’s special operations forces, believes the proposals could be ready as early as next week.
We are actually actively looking at adjustments to the approach in Afghanistan right now
Ms Whelan said: “We are actually actively looking at adjustments to the approach in Afghanistan right now, move beyond the stalemate and also to recognise that Afghanistan is a very important partner for the United States in a very tricky region.”
Roughly 9,000 American service members are deployed in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan National Security Forces under Operation Resolute Support.
A small number of US special forces are reportedly also battling the Taliban and ISIS in the region.
Stephen Biddle, a US foreign policy advisor, said: “The situation is deteriorating.”
Taliban attack major military base in Afghanistan
He is adamant the Taliban have little incentive to negotiate a peace deal as “the battlefield trend is against it”.
Since Mr Trump became President, the Taliban have staged brazen, deadly attacks, including one last month inside a northern Afghan army base where Taliban fighters killed more than 140 soldiers.
US forces have been present in the country for more than 15 years
General Raymond Thomas, US Special Operations Command Chief, criticised the Barack Obama administration for causing the “deteriorating” war effort before for he left office.
He added: “More conventional forces that would thicken the ability to advise and assist Afghan forces, that would absolutely be to our benefit.”
The former Presidential candidate wants more troops to break the stalemate
Referring to the stalemate, John McCain, a former Presidential candidate who ran against Mr Obama in 2008, agreed more needed to be done in the region.
He said: “If the present status quo prevails, then there's no end to it.”