US still has no path to peace in Afghanistan, bipartisan senators say - theguardian

John McCain, visiting Kabul, excoriates 15 years of US efforts in nation – saying goal has been to not lose rather than to win

After more than 15 years in Afghanistan the US still does not have a strategy for winning peace and is making that goal even more unattainable by hampering diplomacy, a bipartisan group of US senators said in the Afghan capital on Tuesday.

The criticism came as the Trump administration considers the deployment of thousands of additional soldiers, without publicly explaining what they are meant to achieve.

In Kabul, the Republican senator John McCain excoriated 15 years of US efforts in Afghanistan, which, he said, pursued a goal amounting to “don’t lose”, rather than winning.

McCain – accompanied by the Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse, and fellow Republicans Lindsey Graham and David Perdue – said the delegation shared concerns about the worsened security in Afghanistan since the drawdown of coalition troops in 2014.

“Each of us may describe that concern in our own way but none of us would say that we’re on course to a success here in Afghanistan,” he said.

Warren added that without a clear plan, political patience in the US could run out. “We need a strategy in the United States that defines our role in Afghanistan, defines our objective and explains how we’re going to get from here to there,” she said.

Most experts believe the Afghan conflict cannot be won by military means alone. Yet, while planning to boost the 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan with about 4,000 more, Donald Trump is gutting civilian bodies tasked with diplomacy.

The congressional delegation visited Afghanistan and Pakistan before a US review of its Afghan war strategy.

“The strongest nation on Earth should be able to win this conflict,” McCain said. “And we are frustrated that this strategy hadn’t been articulated yet, to be honest with you.” - More

US still has no path to peace in Afghanistan, bipartisan senators say ...