The bottom line on Afghanistan is this:
President Trump's speech made me somewhat optimistic that the administration has clear goals and is willing to put aside timelines to achieve them.
However, since the speech there's been no public communication at all about what the concrete, measurable goals are, what success looks like more specifically besides "stability with no terrorists", and what are the measurable steps to get there. I'd be ok with no timelines, as long as I knew what exactly we are looking to do, and how, generally speaking, we are planning to get there.
George W. Bush's administration may have been well-meaning when it came to Iraq, but it completely and utterly failed to communicate what it was they were hoping to achieve and how, and not only came out looking like liars, but wasted valuable resources and human lives until they finally came to some sort of conclusion.
I am really concerned that this is where we are headed on Afghanistan with Trump's administration. I am impressed with Mattis' ability to communicate and defend the president's comments and positions, but he is not a policymaker. He is an executive.
I have yet to see the core of the message that is being communicated here.
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