President Donald Trump tours the pre-commissioned U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding facilities in Newport News, Virginia, March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The continuing, if forgotten, war in Afghanistan is the United States' longest-ever conflict.
But President Donald Trump has vowed to end "nation-building", raising expectations of withdrawal.
The alternatives? Stalemate, or more troops.
Last month, Republican Senator John McCain asked America's top general in Afghanistan, John Nicholson, a simple question: "Are we winning or losing?"
"I believe we're in a stalemate," the commander of Operation Resolute Support replied to the chair of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
According to a January report from America's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the United States has spent approximately $150 billion on nation-building in that country since 2002.
Read more ....
More Commentary And Analysis On President Trump And Afghanistan
How Trump Should Manage Afghanistan: A Realistic Set of Goals for the New Administration -- Seth G. Jones, Foreign Affairs
Trump policy on Afghanistan still not clear -- Fariba Pajooh, UPI
Afghanistan Is Now Trump’s War -- New York Times editorial
Donald Trump is being sucked into the Afghan quagmire -- Roger Boyes, The Australian/The Times
Will President Trump End the 'Total Disaster' War in Afghanistan? -- Javid Ahmad, National Interest
