Trump Has to Decide: 50,000 Troops to Afghanistan?
A new classified intelligence brief says the Ghani government can survive if the U.S. recommits.
by Eli Lake
May 17, 2017, 5:00 AM EDT
A new Afghanistan war strategy approved last month by President Donald Trump's top military and national security advisers would require at least 50,000 U.S. forces to stop the advance of the Taliban and save the government in Kabul, according to a classified U.S. intelligence community assessment.
U.S. intelligence and national security officials familiar with the assessment tell me that it was drafted in April, and that it provided estimates of necessary troop strengths for various strategic options. But it found that if an ambitious war plan approved by the National Security Council's principals committee got a green light from the president -- a big if -- more than 50,000 U.S. troops would be needed.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-17/trump-has-to-decide-50-000-troops-to-afghanistan
