A Photo of Afghan Women in Miniskirts Helped Convince Donald Trump to Send More Troops to Afghanistan
PHOTO: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
In an address to the nation on Monday night, Donald Trump announced plans to commit more troops to Afghanistan and continue the 16-year war. This decision seemed in stark contrast to Trump’s stance on the war in the years leading up to his ascent to the presidency. In 2012, he said the conflict was a “total disaster” and “wasting our money.” In 2013, he called for the U.S. military to leave Afghanistan “immediately.” And in 2015 and well into 2016—a.k.a. the duration of his presidential campaign—Trump continued to denounce the war.
But since actually taking office—and surrounding himself with plenty of retired military men—Trump has seemed to have changed his mind. And according to a report from The Washington Post, one of his closest White House officials knew exactly how to reach Trump—and get him to deploy more troops.
As the The Washington Post reported: “One of the ways [national security adviser H.R. McMaster] tried to persuade Trump to recommit to the effort was by convincing him that Afghanistan was not a hopeless place. He presented Trump with a black-and-white snapshot from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts walking through Kabul, to show him that Western norms had existed there before and could return.”
Considering Trump’s comments, actions, and attitudes toward women, it’s not surprising that a photograph of young women in short skirts was the best way for McMaster to convince the President that reinstating “Western norms” was worth continuing the military effort—and to completely reverse his original stance on the war in Afghanistan.
Though the exact number of troops that will be sent to join the 8,400 that are currently in Afghanistan is unclear, a report from The Hill indicates that the number will likely be between 3,000 and 5,000.