Aug. 24, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for saying of the U.S. military that “we may not win” a battle in Afghanistan:
“It is immoral to expend a single ounce of American blood or another dime of our treasure to play for a tie in Afghanistan. Yet, that is exactly what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson advocated when he said that the U.S. military ‘may not win’ in Afghanistan instead justifying the President’s new policy as a way to bring the Taliban to the table for a settlement.
“One strategic advantage that President Donald Trump has, akin to Ronald Reagan, is his unpredictability. By saying ‘we may not win’ in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has embraced a guaranteed to fail stalemate strategy. At best, Tillerson is proposing a war of attrition, where the U.S. forces the Taliban to the table by wearing them down. At worst, he is proposing a war of attrition, where the enemy wears us down and outlasts the Trump administration. Either way, his statement undermined the clear statement of strategy by President Trump to the nation on Monday, which promised victory. ‘We may not win’ is not a vision of victory, it is the equivalent of waving a white flag before the Trump plan ever gets off the ground. After almost sixteen years in Afghanistan, time is not on the side of the U.S., it is on the side of the enemy which is indigenous to the country. They only need to outlast us. The President must repudiate the statement by Tillerson, which absolutely undermines his stated policy.”
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