Trump Wants to Draw Down Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq: Good or Bad Idea?

I could be convinced that drawing down (not totally removing) soldiers in Afghanistan might be a good idea. I think the Taliban will likely fill whatever power vacuum ensues, but they’ll do it anyway if the U.S. sticks around for another decade and then leaves.

Afghanistan has been vanquishing soldiers of empires for a long, long time. I don’t see a path to a future stable country there at all. So keep enough soldiers there to smash any terrorist training camps and to supress any large scale terrorist force from building, and that’s it. Recognize that it’s likely a permanent situation, at least until something drastic changes. I don’t know what the right number of soldiers is.

Iraq is another matter. ISIS still exists, and Iran is still a major problem. I’d take a lot more convincing that drawing down in Iraq is a good idea after the massive disaster that happened the last time it was tried. If the Abraham accords pull in more Arab countries in a mutual defense pact with Israel, maybe that can help the U.S. get out of there.