U.S Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said that President Donald Trump is waiting for an assessment by US intelligence services before deciding whether or not to increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan.
He made the remarks in the UAE on Saturday during his first official tour to the Middle East.
"We are putting our thoughts together now,” said Mattis on Saturday, referring to the possibility of more US troops for Afghanistan.
“The president has been rightly reticent about it, because he's waiting for my assessment and that of the intelligence community. And he is open to my advice on it, but first of all, I've got to formulate where I stand. This (his visit to the region) is the normal collection of the information, and to assess what the other countries in the region are doing in Afghanistan to help us in our efforts there. We are still sorting that out and shortly I'll have my thoughts collected,” Mattis said.
On the ongoing insurgency in Afghanistan, the US defense secretary said last year was a disastrous year for the Taliban and Afghan forces paid a heavy price to defeat the Taliban.
"I suggest last year was pretty disastrous for the Taliban. They lost their leader, they took no provincial capitals. You can say: 'Well, that's a pretty low bar.' Actually, considering that this is an organization that knows they cannot win at the ballot box and is using bombs and guns on purpose, they were unsuccessful in gaining their tactical objectives,” Mattis said.
Mattis also hailed the sacrifices made by the Afghan security forces in keeping the Taliban in check.
“So, I think it was a lot more damaging to the Taliban and the Afghan security forces paid a very heavy price to keep the Taliban on the back foot. The Taliban is in a worse position today, even though I do not equate that to success on our side,” said Mattis.
"I've been talking to a fair number of military commanders around the world. I think that General Thomas (army general Raymond "Tony" Thomas, who warned administration "turmoil" was causing concern in the military) was probably taken a bit out of context, because we all want to see everything moving smoothly,” he said