The Trump Administration Wants to Send More Military Advisers to Afghanistan
The Trump Administration Wants to Send More Military Advisers to Afghanistan by Stephen Biddle, Julia Macdonald and Ryan Baker, Washington Post
Senior Trump administration officials have proposed sending 3,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Their mission? Advise and assist Afghan security forces.
The Obama administration’s plan was much the same. So is the U.S. strategy for Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Ukraine, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Mauritania and many other locations around the world. In all these places, U.S. strategy relies on Security Force Assistance (SFA): using a small U.S. force to advise, train, equip and assist local allies to do the difficult ground fighting that Americans would rather avoid.
There’s a reason Security Force Assistance is so common. But it rarely works…
Why Security Force Assistance often goes to waste…
Security Force Assistance can work, but only if the stars align and the conditions are right…
Sending more usually isn’t the answer…