Is the United States “bogged down” in military conflict? That’s the phrase President Donald Trump used in a series of tweets Thursday morning responding to a Republican senator who was critical of a recent U.S. military raid in Yemen.
Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
…long he doesn’t know how to win anymore, just look at the mess our country is in – bogged down in conflict all over the place. Our hero..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
..Ryan died on a winning mission ( according to General Mattis), not a “failure.” Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
“[J]ust look at the mess our country is in – bogged down in conflict all over the place,” Trump tweeted. But when I asked Sean Spicer where the United States is “bogged down,” the White House press secretary spoke instead about the disparate and non-traditional fight against radical Islamic terrorism.
“I think that if you look at ISIS in particular and the hotspots around the country, the places that we have to monitor, there’s a lot of countries through the Middle East in particular, Northern Africa, that we are having to address and deal with and monitor because of the threat of radical Islamic terrorism,” Spicer said. “I mean, there’s no question that the spread of it has gone, in the last eight years, has proliferated. And I think that the resources we have to spend, this isn’t a traditional war where you’re just looking at the other enemy with a uniform and saying, here’s the country we’re fighting. The proliferation of ISIS throughout this country had made it so that we have to focus a lot more in a lot more places and expend a lot more resources because it’s more of a disparate approach that we have to employ as opposed to having one country that you’re facing at one time.”
But the phrase “bogged down” suggests being stuck, without having the ability to get out. When I tried to clarify if this fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups was one in which we were “bogged down,” Spicer interjected, “I just answered your question,” and moved on.
The Washington Examiner‘s Sarah Westwood followed up with a question about the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan’s testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services committee. Army general John Nicholson said that the coalition forces in Afghanistan needed “a few thousand” more troops to “train, advise, and assist” Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban.
“To get out of conflicts like that, does the administration plan to send those additional forces to Afghanistan?” Westwood asked.
“I think the president will heed the advice of the generals and Secretary [James] Mattis. That conversation has yet to happen,” Spicer replied. “That, right now, is a Department of Defense issue.”
