Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he wants to see the Trump administration ramp up its efforts in Afghanistan to both end the ongoing war there and prevent the Islamic State (ISIS) or another group from taking over territory once U.S. forces leave.
McCain announced in a press release his intentions to tack on a detailed amendment to the defense authorization bill that would significantly increase America's Afghan war efforts.
"The goal of this strategy is to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a sanctuary for terrorists to plot and conduct attacks against America, our allies, or our interests," McCain said.
"To accomplish this goal, we need an integrated civil-military approach to bolster U.S. counterterrorism efforts, strengthen the capability and capacity of the Afghan government and security forces, and intensify diplomatic efforts to facilitate a negotiated peace process in Afghanistan in cooperation with regional partners."
Details of the plan include preventing the Taliban from disrupting or overthrowing the Afghan government, helping negotiate a peace process in Afghanistan, and increasing the number of U.S. counterterrorism forces in the country.
McCain criticized President Donald Trump last week after it was reported that Trump berated America's top general in Afghanistan and was considering dismissing him because "we aren't winning, we are losing."
McCain pledged his support of military commanders on the ground and said Trump is at fault, not the military.
"Our commanders-in-chief, not our commanders in the field, are responsible for this failure," McCain said. "I urge the president to resolve the differences within his administration as soon as possible and decide on a policy and strategy that can achieve our national security interests in Afghanistan and the region."
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