Mattis: US Not Winning in Afghanistan

Photo: AP

U.S. President Donald Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said late Tuesday.

This could mean a boost in the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, where 16 years of fighting against the Taliban and other militants has resulted in a stalemate.

Jim Mattis told lawmakers Tuesday that the United States is not gaining in the fight to stabilize Afghanistan and he vowed to present a strategy to Congress "by mid-July."

"We are not winning in Afghanistan right now, and we will correct this as soon possible," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Mattis acknowledged that the Trump administration is currently in a "strategy-free time" concerning Afghanistan.

The defense secretary called on Congress to provide the Pentagon with a budget, "not a continuing resolution,"...