A Better Way to End America’s ‘Endless Wars’
Focus on safeguarding U.S. interests in Iraq and Afghanistan, not on getting troop levels to zero.
The U.S. footprint has shrunk dramatically.
Photographer: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump is aiming to bring home thousands of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan ahead of the November elections, to show he’s fulfilling his pledge to end America’s wars in the Islamic world. In fact, the best way to minimize the chances of getting dragged back into such conflicts is to leave some troops in place but to clarify and rationalize their mission.
The truth is that the “endless wars” Trump constantly decries have, for all practical purposes, already ended. The U.S. military footprint in both Iraq and Afghanistan has shrunk radically — down from 170,000 troops at the peak in Iraq to 5,200 now; and to 8,600, down from 100,000, in Afghanistan.