THE NUMBERS GAME: At the moment there is no clear answer to the question of how many additional U.S. troops will be going to Afghanistan as a result of President Trump’s retooled strategy to eventually win the war that will soon enter its 17th year. Administration officials have privately said the number is roughly 4,000, but the president has announced no number, and probably never will.
Trump has delegated the authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who told reporters traveling with him that he has not yet settled on a number, and won’t until he gets a plan from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford that outlines how the new strategy will be implemented, and the specific tasks to be performed by the U.S. military.
