The issue in Afghanistan isn't escalation and the number of troops, the issue is what you do with them once they're there.
But Mr. Trump had long expressed skepticism about sending more troops, and the issue has never been easy for an administration that trumpets an "America first" strategy.
Oddly, when soldiers shot at the demonstrators, there was no sound, most probably the result of silencers fitted on the ends of the rifles, although the Israeli troops skirted the issue when questioned about it.
With this strategy of fueling sectarian bloodshed already in place, how will U.S. ground troops solve the issue of Sunni and Shia hatred? 5. Iraq borders Syria.
Officials said he did attend two National Security Council meetings last week — the first to discuss the troop issue, and the second to discuss the broader policy for South Asia.
Stamping the strategy with an Obama watermark to make it his own, while increasing the number of troops, the President issued a soon-after date of drawing down U.S. forces, in hopes of both defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda while responsibly disengaging from the region.
Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, said last week that countries in the region were "unnerved" by the plan to increase the number of American troops and that the issue should be addressed at Monday's meeting in Ecuador of the Union of South American Nations.
Republican senators played down the troop issue, and noted that American forces were taking the fight to Baath Party loyalists, foreign fighters and criminals.
But White House aides say that despite being overruled on the troop-strength issue, the vice president scored some victories.
After Macron said in a live TV interview on Sunday night that he had changed Trump's mind on rapidly withdrawing US troops, the White House issued a statement saying the US view had not changed and Trump still wanted US forces to leave "as quickly as possible" and "completely crush Isis".
