West Wing Reads Defense Secretary: ‘This is Our Chance to Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan for Good’

Defense Secretary: ‘This is Our Chance to Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan for Good’ After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. military deployed to Afghanistan to fight terrorists and “remove the safe haven that the Taliban offered them. For more than 18 years, America has been protected,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper writes in The Washington Post. “But this success has come at a high price. Nearly 3,000 U.S. and allied troops have been killed in action, thousands more have been wounded, and we have spent more than $1 trillion to keep us safe and help the people of Afghanistan.” Over the weekend, “we achieved a promising milestone to bring the war in Afghanistan to a responsible end with the signing of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban. It is a road map to peace, security and stability that, while fraught with many imperfections and uncertainties, is supported by the Afghan government and our NATO allies. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, it is the best chance we have ever had to end this conflict.” Click here to read more. “The U.S. has made a decisive move towards a negotiated peace plan in Afghanistan.” Now, all parties must live up to the terms. “We have seen the president walk away from deals where the other party changes the terms at the last minute or does not comply with the agreement,” Army veteran and defense expert Cory Mills writes in Fox News. Last year, President Trump called Chicago the “worst sanctuary city in America.” Here’s another example of why: Recently, an illegal alien who was “arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a toddler would have been in federal custody had the Chicago Police Department in 2019 honored an immigration detainer on him and not [released] him back into the community,” Jason Hopkins reports for The Daily Caller. While activists march, the Trump Administration gets results. Take January’s Women’s March: The protesters can celebrate that during President Trump’s first two years in office, the number of women in poverty declined by 1.5 million—even as the U.S. population continued to grow, Mary Vought writes in RealClearPolitics.