Obama Finds He Can’t Escape Afghan War He Once Vowed to End

[Purveyor]

President Barack Obama, who once promised to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan within 16 months of taking office, acknowledged on Wednesday that his successor will instead have to resolve America’s longest armed conflict.

Obama announced that he would again slow the U.S. withdrawal from the country, where Afghan government forces are struggling to take and keep territory from the Taliban. About 8,400 U.S. military personnel will remain in the country at the end of the year to help with what Obama called a “precarious” security situation.

Leaving Afghanistan

“We’re guided by the facts -- the situation on the ground -- to determine what’s working and what needs to be changed,” Obama said Wednesday. The U.S. troops would continue to focus on training Afghan forces and on counterterrorism missions, he said.

The move, which comes a day before Obama heads to Warsaw for a meeting with other North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders, means his successor -- likely either Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump -- will also have to wrestle with the Afghan war, now in its 15th year. Administration officials who refused to be identified told reporters in a briefing arranged by the White House that a resolution will require the Taliban and Afghan government to negotiate a truce, an outcome they acknowledged is complicated by the Taliban’s reluctance to engage in talks.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-07-06/obama-scales-back-afghan-withdrawal-amid-continued-threats

[zipplewrath]

1. Keep doing what hasn't worked.

“

We’re guided by the facts -- the situation on the ground -- to determine what’s working and what needs to be changed,” Obama said Wednesday. The U.S. troops would continue to focus on training Afghan forces and on counterterrorism missions, he said.

So we'll keep doing what hasn't worked in 15 years. What do they call insanity?