Why The U.S. Has Continued To Fight In Afghanistan

President Trump made it clear that he's intent on leaving Afghanistan, even as top military officials warn that nation harbors a growing number of groups intent on attacking the U.S.

Eighteen years into fighting the nation's longest war, the U.S. is trying to find an exit ramp for the 14,000 troops still in Afghanistan. Here's President Trump earlier this week in his State of the Union address.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Great nations do not fight endless wars.

MARTIN: U.S. delegates have been trying to negotiate a political settlement with the Taliban. But what happens to the fight against terrorism, which was the entire reason for the U.S. invasion in 2001? NPR's David Welna has this report.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE: Twelve years ago, George W. Bush, the president who first ordered troops into Afghanistan, was speaking at an American Legion convention. He explained that the U.S. was still fighting in Afghanistan years after toppling the Taliban regime because of all the terrorist groups holed up there.

GEORGE W BUSH: Our strategy is this. We will fight them over there so we do not have to face them in the United States of America.

WELNA: Earlier this week, I spoke with John Nicholson. He's the retired Army general who recently stepped down as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Nicholson thinks what President Bush said about why the U.S. was in Afghanistan still holds true today.

JOHN NICHOLSON: The point here is that a presence in the region with a willing partner, as we have with the Afghans, I believe, does give us the ability to keep pressure on these groups and their sanctuary areas. And this degrades their ability to attack us at home.

WELNA: Al-Qaida's presence in Afghanistan has faded. But according to Nicholson, 20 other terrorist groups operate there or just across the border in Pakistan. Nevertheless, in his State of the Union address, Trump left no doubt he plans to cut back U.S. forces in Afghanistan.- Read More

Why The U.S. Has Continued To Fight In Afghanistan

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