WASHINGTON ¨C President Donald Trump is considering significantly drawing down troops from Afghanistan, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, in the latest sign his patience is thinning both with America¡¯s longest war and overseas military interventions, generally.
Shortly after the officials spoke, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that he was quitting so that Trump could have a Pentagon chief more aligned with the president¡¯s views.
Mattis has argued for maintaining a strong U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to bolster diplomatic peace efforts. He also opposed the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria that Trump announced on Wednesday, a move that has bewildered allies and triggered harsh reaction from Republican allies in Congress.
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