The pillars of President Donald Trump's freshly minted strategy in Afghanistan mirrors to a tee the plan former Vice President Joe Biden tried to sell to President Barack Obama in 2009, The New York Times reported.
Some of the hallmarks of both Afghanistan strategies include:
- Hunting terrorists
- Forget nation building
- Get tough with Pakistan
- Modest troop investment
"I had a strong sense of déjà vu listening to Trump's speech," Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, told the Times. "It's almost as if our national security institutions and foreign policy elite are only capable of recycling different versions of some of the same ideas discussed for more than a decade and a half on Afghanistan."
But unlike Biden, whose plan was rebuffed in favor of then President Barack Obama's military commanders who pushed for an all-in approach, the Times reported, Trump is the boss … listening to his military commanders.
And unlike Obama, Trump has done away with artificial deadlines and mileposts to exit Afghanistan, and he has relieved his military commanders of having to wait on layers of lawyers in Washington before engaging the enemy in front of them.
For that, Trump has received many plaudits since his speech Monday night, many from former military and intelligence officials, effectively burnishing his credentials on foreign policy that will prove helpful in a re-election bid.
Especially if his Democratic opponent is Joe Biden.
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