President Donald Trump gave Defense Secretary James Mattis authority Tuesday to dictate American troop levels in Afghanistan, according to a New York Times report.
The decision from President Trump comes as top American leaders, including Mattis, warn that the U.S. is losing the nearly 16 year long conflict. Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, “We are not winning in Afghanistan right now. And we will correct this as soon as possible.”
“The Taliban had a good year last year, and they’re trying to have a good one this year,” Mattis added. There are an estimated 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan, who are within an international coalition of 13,000 troops.
Mattis is likely to support a deployment of thousands of more Americans. Gen. John Nicholson, the commander leading the international coalition in Afghanistan, told senators in February that the U.S. needs a “few thousand” more troops to be deployed.
Michael Pregent, a retired military intelligence officer who worked under Mattis, agreed with this proposal and told The Daily Caller in April that a surge of troops is required in order to properly “train and advise” the Afghan military.
Mattis said during his testimony that the U.S. policy review in Afghanistan has not yet been finished, and that in the meantime, “There are actions being taken to make certain that we don’t pay a price for the delay.”
The move from Trump to delegate this authority to Mattis is a departure from the Obama era, as the former president was criticized for micromanaging military decisions.