President Obama was also open to negotiations with the Taliban but even with the support of the U.S., the Government of Afghanistan, along with the international community, has not achieved lasting success. Although the speech was short on specifics, Trump foresaw that it might be “ possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban.” A passing acknowledgment that this conflict could only truly end with a political solution. Trump’s decision to continue the latest, and longest, war ensures American service members will continue to fight in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future. After many years of Afghanistan being on the backburner to Iraq and Syria, the war in the Hindu Kush lurched forward from the abyss of irrelevance with President Trump’s August 2017 address at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall where he outlined the new U.S.
