Trump's recently-appointed acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced last week that the U.S. will cut the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 2,500 by Jan. 15, an announcement that came just before national security adviser Robert O'Brien said that Trump was looking "to put a stop to America's endless wars."
Although the United States has formally declared war only five times, with the most recent being the country's entry into World War II, Congress has granted several "authorizations of military force" since Carter left office.
President Ronald Reagan sent troops into Lebanon in 1983, President George H.W. Bush launched the Gulf War in 1991, President Bill Clinton got funding from Congress and permission from the United Nations to send 20,000 troops into Bosnia in 1995, George W. Bush initialized the War on Terror and the Iraq War in 2003, and President Barack Obama sent American forces into Libya in 2011.
According to Thomas Gift, the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London:
"Trump hasn't faced a similar monumental national security event that's compelled him to shift focus and become a 'wartime president.' As a result, Trump's brand of belligerent isolationism has led him to avoid foreign wars."
Reader Comments
I'm not even sure why they engineered Gulf War One for - was it just to get US military bases onto Muslim lands?
A lot of Aussies were shipped to the gulf; on their return we held a reception for them in Darwin NT which was their first port of call. They had been โdarkโ for about 18 months with no news. They seemed so young, too young. Why do we keep sending our best young men off to senseless wars?
It may have been to create a need to attack Iraq and weaken Saddam, but, especially in light of the following 30 years, maybe this was the first step and the obvious need to get US military bases onto Muslim lands
Biden's prospective presidency is already laying the groundwork for just such as national security event
Best of the Web: Biden's cabinet will push US into more 'forever wars' - Analysts
Projected President-elect Joe Biden's top cabinet selections, deeply tied to the defence industry, will likely ensure US troops get stuck in more intractable military conflicts, analysts told...