Trump's Afghan Strategy Is Different, and Braver, Than Obama's

U.S. President Donald J. Trump was right to jettison his initial instincts for a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan and to articulate a firm, continued commitment to that country and the region in his speech on Monday night. The conventional wisdom was quick to dismiss the strategy as little different from that of President Barack Obama. But it is in fact a welcome departure from Obama’s foreign policy in two critical ways.

First, Trump deserves credit for a decision that clearly goes against immediate political interests. Sure, this is a low bar; we should all want and expect our commander in chief to prioritize national security above voter popularity. But it is easy, when viewing the tumultuous and sometimes baffling Trump foreign policy, to forget how domestic political considerations were so often the driving force behind Obama’s foreign policy. The best example of this is the drive to remove all U.S. forces from Iraq before the 2012 presidential elections.