The final proposals for a planned troop increase in Afghanistan are expected to cross President Donald Trump’s desk this week.
US officials say the likely range for the US troop increase in Afghanistan is between 3,000 and 5,000 troops, but could be as low as 1,500. The increase would be to accelerate training missions for Afghan forces and well as to fight the Taliban.
Trump has already given authority to set official troop levels in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria to Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
National security adviser H. R. McMaster and Mattis favor the troop increase being discussed at the Pentagon and increasing the US’s financial investment in Afghanistan, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
The same source said Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his small contingent of nationalists are expected to push back when those recommendations hit Trump’s desk.
Additional strategy options being presented to Trump include an outline for dealing with the Taliban, including scaling up strikes against the militant group, according to two US officials familiar with the proposal.
The proposed strategy will, however, maintain the Obama administration’s push toward reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government. It is unclear when Trump will make a formal decision.
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