Trump to address nation today on Afghanistan strategy

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump plans to address the nation tonight on his strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

The White House said Trump will speak to the country at 8 p.m. today from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia.

Trump and his national-security team met Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to reach agreement on a strategy.

Trump tweeted over the weekend he had made a decision. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, traveling in Afghanstan on Sunday, also said Trump had reached a decision. Mattis declined to discuss specifics before Trump's announcement.

It will be Trump's first formal address to the nation as president, and it follows a period of isolation for Trump after his comments about racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Signaling the U.S. military expects its mission to continue, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army's new special-operations corps, declaring, "We are with you, and we will stay with you."

Gen. John Nicholson's exhortation of continued support for the Afghans suggested the Pentagon may have won its argument that America's military must stay engaged in the conflict to insure terrorists don't again threaten the U.S. from safe havens in Afghanistan.

Nicholson, speaking before the White House announcement, said the commandos and a plan to double the size of the Afghans' special-operations forces are critical to winning the war.

"I assure you we are with you in this fight. We are with you, and we will stay with you," he said during a ceremony at Camp Morehead, a training base for Afghan commandos southeast of Kabul.

The Pentagon was awaiting a final announcement by Trump on a proposal to send nearly 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

The added forces would increase training and advising of the Afghan forces and bolster counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate trying to gain a foothold in the country.

The administration has been at odds for months over how to craft a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan amid frustrations that 16 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the conflict is stalemated.

The Afghan government controls only half of the country and is beset by corruption and infighting.

The Islamic State group has been hit hard but continues to attempt major attacks, insurgents still find safe harbor in Pakistan, and Russia, Iran and others increasingly are trying to shape the outcome.

At this point, everything the U.S. military has proposed points to keeping the Afghan government in place and struggling to turn a dismal quagmire around.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is satisfied with how the administration formulated its new Afghanistan war strategy. But he refused to talk about the new policy until it was disclosed by Trump.

He said the deliberations, including talks at the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday, were done properly.

"I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous," Mattis said, speaking aboard a military aircraft on an overnight flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan.

Months ago, Trump gave Mattis authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, but Mattis said he has not yet sent significant additional forces to the fight. He has said he would wait for Trump to set the strategic direction first.