President Trump’s address to the nation regarding his plan to victory in Afghanistan was met would wide praise from Republicans and military leaders, but not from Democrats, who seem to oppose the president at every turn. Some Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, stated that the president failed to present “benchmarks” for success, and has called for the end of the conflict.
Trump did what he said he was going to do, not announced details of military operations, including not divulging the amount of troops that could be deployed.Watch the address here:
Address to the Nation
Full Video & Transcript:https://t.co/FELdImTuUM pic.twitter.com/6ly3fNatiX— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2017
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One of Trump’s biggest Republican detractors in the US Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham, appeared on Fox News to gush over the president’s plan, saying that he would do everything in his power to help move that agenda forward. Graham also said that he would countering Senator Rand Paul, who is opposing the new Afghanistan military efforts.
Graham pounced on “General Paul”:“I think he’s actually a worse ‘general’ than Obama, believe it or not. ‘General’ Paul has been wrong about everything in this war. It’s that kind of thinking that got us into 9/11. You may be tired of fighting the terrorists, but they’re not tired of fighting you. On September 10, 2001, we did it the Rand Paul way: we didn’t have one soldier in Afghanistan, we didn’t have an embassy, we didn’t have a dime of aid going to Afghanistan, and they hit us anyway…“I will fight Senator Paul tooth and nail to make sure that we don’t lose in Afghanistan like we did in Iraq. It’s just exactly what President Obama did in Iraq, which is to leave against sound military advice.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also applauded President Trump for allowing the decisions in Afghanistan to be made by the military official, who base their actions on “conditions on the ground, rather than on politics or arbitrary timetables.”
“I commend President Trump and his Administration for crafting a new strategy for victory in Afghanistan and South Asia that will be based on conditions on the ground, rather than on politics or arbitrary timetables. The United States should never again allow a terrorist safe haven to develop in Afghanistan from which terrorist networks can plot attacks directly against the American homeland and our interests abroad.
“Our nation’s longest war has been costly in terms of human lives and national treasure, and too many mistakes have been made by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Nonetheless, the United States cannot afford to abandon this fight as it relates directly to the heinous terrorist attacks against our nation nearly 16 years ago. Ensuring a stable and functional Afghanistan is in the direct national security interest of the United States and the right thing to do for the American people, the Afghan people, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in this war.”–Senator Marco Rubio
Good #AfghanStrategy & excellent speech by @POTUS laying it out to the nation.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 22, 2017