H.R. McMaster says Trump has 'doubled down' on Obama's mistakes in Afghanistan

H.R. McMaster.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CBS)

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who previously served as President Trump's national security adviser, on Sunday called Trump's order to further reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan by mid-January "abhorrent."

CBS News' Margaret Brennan asked McMaster if Trump was "handing the Taliban a victory on the way out the door." McMaster answered in the affirmative, adding that Trump has "paradoxically doubled down on all the flaws of the Obama administration's approach to Afghanistan." As McMaster sees it, if the Taliban establishes control over large parts of Afghanistan, they will offer "safe haven" for terrorist groups, making the U.S. "far less safe" and more vunerabe to attacks.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.