Mattis: Trump has made decision on Afghanistan

Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters on Sunday that President Trump has made a decision on the administration’s Afghanistan strategy.

“The president has made a decision,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Jordan, according to Reuters.

Mattis did not provide any details about the strategy, which Trump was to have discussed during a meeting at Camp David on Friday with his advisers. He made it clear that announcement would come from the president.

{mosads}”I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a pre-set position,” Mattis said. 

Trump is expected to add 4,000 troops to those already in Afghanistan, who are advising, training and assisting Afghan forces. The U.S. now has 8,400 troops in the country as part of the longest conflict in U.S. history.

Trump has been working on a new strategy for Afghanistan for some time.

Advisers have offered conflicting advice, with former White House senior strategist Stephen Bannon even suggesting the U.S. hire mercenaries to fight in the country.

Bannon, who like Trump has questioned the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, lost his job on Friday. He had been in conflict with H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser and a key voice on Afghanistan. 

Afghan government forces have control over less than 60 percent of the country, with the rest being contested or under the control of insurgents, according to Reuters.