Commentaries And Analysis On President Trump's Afghanistan Strategy

James Gordon Meek, ABC News: Optimism for Trump's Afghanistan War plan from legendary US commando

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's new plan for a more open-ended war against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS in South Asia was met with cautious optimism by retired Army Maj. Jim Gant, also known as "Lawrence of Afghanistan," one of the few military strategists who had success in the fight in the region.

Gant — a legendary Green Beret counterinsurgency innovator who earned a version of the "Lawrence of Arabia" nickname bestowed on British officer T.E. Lawrence for his famous heroics in the 1916 Arab Revolt — said he was "encouraged" by the Trump plan.

"There are key ingredients for success in this strategy, which bears the clear imprint of Gens. [James] Mattis and [H.R.] McMaster," Gant told ABC News on Tuesday, referring to Trump's secretary of defense and national security adviser.

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Commentaries And Analysis On President Trump's Afghanistan Strategy

Key takeaways from Trump's speech on Afghanistan -- ABC News
Analysis: Trump vows to win the seemingly unwinnable war -- AP
The Only Way Trump’s Afghanistan Plan Would Make Sense -- Stephen Tankel, Fortune
America Is Out of Ideas in Afghanistan -- Susan B. Glasser, Politico
Trump Lays Out a Winning Strategy for Afghanistan -- Luke

Coffey, Daily Signal
President Trump has a new plan for Afghanistan. Will it work? -- Dallas Morning News editorial
Trump's Afghanistan strategy isn't to win. It's to avoid losing. -- Washington Post
After Trump’s U-turn, Afghans’ suffering now has no end -- Lucy Morgan Edwards, The Guardian
Trump strategy won't solve Afghan problems, say analysts -- AFP
Trump's Afghan strategy: new course or repeating history? -- AFP
When Will Enough Be Enough in Afghanistan? -- Andrew Exum, The Atlantic
Trump's 'Obama-Lite' Afghanistan Strategy -- Jacob Heilbrunn, National Interest
Delaying the Inevitable in Afghanistan -- Kamran Bokhari, Geopoltiical Futures
Afghanistan Is Trump's War Now -- Andrew Bacevich, Los Angeles Times
Trump's Plan to Save the Afghanistan Bush and Obama Built -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg
Despite expected U.S. troop hike, no end in sight to Afghan war -- Jonathan Landay, Reuters
America’s longest war is about to get even longer. -- Isobel Thompson, Vanity Fair
Donald Trump's New Afghanistan Plan Promises More Killing — And Little Else -- The Intercept
A history of the “blood and treasure” phrase Trump keeps using about the war in Afghanistan -- Quartz