On August 21, President Trump held a presidential address regarding his choice to send additional troops to Afghanistan to end the 16 year-old conflict once and for all. Trump stated that he will be sending approximately 40,000 troops to Afghanistan as soon as possible, without specification of what he plans to do with the additional manpower.

Trump stated, “My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts, but all my life, I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”

In addition, he elaborated that evacuating would give terrorists a chance to attack freely, which could be considered immoral. He also stated vaguely, “In the end, we will win.”

With minimal knowledge of how Trump defines “victory”, Americans are preparing themselves for the chance of heavy combat in Afghanistan soon.

On the other hand, many Americans are confused about where Trump is expecting to find the troops or peace overseas. Many believe that he is contradicting his actions against transgender people within U.S. forces and asking for a large and quick sacrifice. John Dempsey, a former senior State Department official stated, “It didn’t work then, and it especially won’t work now.”

His reference to history appealed to the fact that the conflict is becoming extraneous and not solvable by violence. Trump is now the third president who has been affiliated with conflict in Afghanistan, making the combat with Afghanistan the longest military conflict in American History.

As American forces rise in Afghanistan, there is no doubt that opposing forces will prepare as well.