Resetting the prospects for peace with security in Afghanistan
President Trump and the First Lady spent Thanksgiving in Afghanistan with U.S. troops. While he was at it, Mr. Trump reset the terms for renewed talks with our principal enemy there, the Taliban.
President Trump and the First Lady spent Thanksgiving in Afghanistan with U.S. troops. While he was at it, Mr. Trump reset the terms for renewed talks with our principal enemy there, the Taliban.
The President prides himself on being an accomplished negotiator. Stipulating that the Taliban agree to a cease-fire – something they had heretofore refused to do – is a classic technique of moving the goal posts to improve the likely outcome of such talks.
Mr. Trump should now double down by establishing conditions under which such a cease-fire would likely conduce to an actual peace with security for the Afghan people. He should replace most of the remaining U.S. forces in country with contractors to support Afghanistan’s armed forces while adopting the successful Vietnam-era CORDS counter-insurgency model for securing the population.
That’s a formula for victory, not surrender to the Taliban.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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