Members of Congress warn that a White House plan to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan would raise the casualty toll and enormous expense of the longest war in US history.
Top Pentagon and administration officials are recommending an expansion of the US military strengh in Afghanistan, presenting President Donald Trump with a stark choice that could threaten his “America First” agenda.
Officials hope that the troop surge would boost Afghan security forces and push back against a resurgent Taliban, but some lawmakers are skeptical.
“We spent billions of dollars. We’ve lost thousands of American lives. We’ve been engaged in this war for over 15 years. And we are still struggling to determine how it can end favorably for the best interest of the United States and the Afghan people,” said Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois.
