Mattis Can Send Troops to Afghanistan without White House Approval

The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump last month gave US Defence Secretary James Mattis authority to set troops level in Afghanistan. The report stated that Mattis can send 3,900 troops to Afghanistan without getting additional approval from the White House. The White House is struggling with how it will end the 16-year war in Afghanistan that has cost trillions of dollars, with Pentagon leaders calling for more troops to end what many consider a stalemate. Mattis told lawmakers in June that the US is “not winning” in Afghanistan but promised to “correct this as soon as possible and to brief Congress in detail on a new strategy for Afghanistan by mid-July.” The US already has roughly 8,400 troops in Afghanistan on a joint mission of advising and training Afghan forces and conducting anti-terror operations against groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS.