Readers' best comments: In Afghanistan, learn from previous presidents

• Trump’s plan for Afghanistan is like all his plans: misguided and misunderstood.
• I believe the plan laid out on Monday night by Trump seems right. Give it a good try and leave no power vacuums.

Letter to the editor: 

President Trump fails to realize something that President Kennedy learned during the Cuban missile crisis: The military will always offer military solutions and promise victory. But there will never be a victory in Afghanistan for the U.S. because there isn’t a sustainable government that can rule the country and be an ally to us.

The Afghanistan War can very easily become a gigantic quagmire, because Trump’s temperament is to double down when things do not go his way. We should remember how the Vietnam War went down, all because President Lyndon Johnson took things personally. Increasing bodies and taking the gloves off is definitely not nation building.

Withdrawal is the only viable option. If the Taliban fighters play the long game like the North Vietnamese, they will come to the bargaining table as Trump wants. And just like President Nixon did, Trump will declare peace with honor.

Bullying Pakistan is the same as a dog that won’t hunt. Pakistan’s leaders are smarter than Trump and will pay lip service to U.S. demands so as to not to destabilize their own country. Otherwise, Trump may accomplish what President George W. Bush did in Iraq, destabilize the whole region.

Nevertheless, for a while, Trump’s saber rattling may improve his approval ratings, if only for a while.

George Magakis; Norristown, Pa.

More:Trump takes ownership of Afghanistan War

Comments are edited for clarity and grammar: 

Donald Trump told President Obama a few years ago to get out of Afghanistan and rebuild America. His speech on Monday was nothing but a lame attempt to try to make amends for his response to the events of Charlottesville, Va.

— Stan Kulawik

The Afghanistan War became Trump’s the day he assumed office. Unlike the loose cannon people want to call him, Trump took the time to hear from the people who do this stuff for a living and unlike his predecessor, he didn’t telegraph his plan of action. One thing you can bet on though, our troops won’t have to fight with their hands tied behind their backs.

— Billy J. Jim

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