Douglas London is right to raise questions about what President Trump knew about U.S. intelligence reports describing possible Russian bounty payments to the Taliban. But as troubling and confusing as this entire story is, it’s hardly the most important subject.
Analysts, pundits and the news media have paid far more attention to the #BountyGate story over a period of days than they have on the actual war in Afghanistan over the last few months.
If competitors and adversaries like Russia, Iran and Pakistan are deliberately encouraging Taliban fighters to target U.S. troops, it’s because doing so is an easy way of keeping Americans mired in a decades-long civil war with no end in sight. All three are taking advantage of the situation.
If President Trump wants to deprive the Russians of this opportunity, he should extricate the United States from the conflict. The temptation in Washington will be to escalate in Afghanistan and complicate Moscow’s own plans in the country. But this would translate only into more U.S. investment for little gain.
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