Panetta says Afghan war should be ‘very targeted’

PRESIDENT DONALD Trump's new plan for the 16- year war in Afghanistan was met with doubt this week by Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who criticized the president — like other Democrats have — for offering little detail about the strategy.

On Monday, Trump announced his new Afghanistan policy, which includes deploying more troops, keeping them there until real progress has been made, pressuring Pakistan to stop offering sanctuary for the Taliban, and maximizing financial sanctions against terror networks.

"We must address the reality of the world as it exists right now, the threats we face, and the confronting of all of the problems of today, and extremely predictable consequences of a hasty withdrawal," Trump said during a speech to outline the policy.

But Panetta — a veteran of the war in Afghanistan — said Trump left out how many more troops he would send to the country, and how diplomacy would be used to gain stability in the region.

"I agree that we should not have a rapid exit from a country like Afghanistan, especially based on what we have done there for the past 16 years," Panetta told The Pine Cone Wednesday afternoon. "But I was disappointed that there was not more detail provided by the president as to his actual strategy."

Panetta said Trump told the American people what is already being done in Afghanistan, but he didn't outline specifics, including what method the president would use to measure U.S. military success in the country.

"There needs to be more of a strategic outlook" said Panetta, who said Trump has also failed to release a National Security Strategy — a document from the executive branch that articulates the country's interests abroad, its goals, and its security objectives.

4,000 more troops

Trump did not say Monday how many troops he would send to Afghanistan, and has said he would not disclose specific strategies, in order to prevent the enemy from preparing a response. But senior officials have said he has approved 4,000 troops in addition to the more than 8,000 already there.

Panetta, who served in Afghanistan with a special operations task force and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he's seen close-up the challenges the United States faces in meeting its objectives in its longest war. He suggested the military should concentrate on focused operations such as eliminating high value Taliban targets.

"I saw that when you have very targeted, very focused, very intelligence-driven operations, things can get done," said Panetta, who received a Bronze Star for meritorious service in a combat zone. "I saw it succeed when I was there in 2007 and 2008, and we have heard about these kinds of successes in the Middle East" with the same types of operations.

Trump said Monday that he was frustrated by a foreign policy that has "spent too much time, energy, money and most importantly, lives, trying to rebuild countries in our own image instead of pursuing our security interests above all other considerations."

While Trump has long called for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan, he conceded that the consequences of a "rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable."