The general overseeing U.S. military operations in Afghanistan said Thursday he is taking a fresh look at the war strategy President Donald Trump announced nearly a year ago.
General Joseph Votel said his assessment is designed to consider adjustments that could improve prospects for achieving the goal of Afghan government peace negotiations with the Taliban.
Last August, Trump announced what he called a revamped strategy for ending the war. That strategy included putting more military pressure on the Taliban, soliciting more cooperation from Pakistan and focusing on starting peace talks.
"We always want to assess the things we're doing and how we're making progress on this," Votel said, "and make sure that we make course corrections as we move forward. So, you know, a year into this we are doing that."
Votel said his assessment is part of a more comprehensive U.S. government-wide look at the strategy. He said he does not foresee this resulting in major changes to that strategy, which he says is showing signs of producing important progress.
The U.S. has about 15,000 troops in Afghanistan.
