The U.S. calls, Italy responds with another 100 troops in Afghanistan

Commentary. The war in Afghanistan is so political that ministers and prime ministers will stay away from it, yielding policy power to the military. They know it's lost, but they do not have the courage to admit it. (il manifesto/global published June 21, 2017)

written by Giuliano Battiston, Emanuele Giordana

Original source here

In Afghanistan, politics has abdicated. The military decides everything.
This applies to the United States, where President Donald Trump has delegated to the Secretary of Defense James Mattis the decision on the number of soldiers to be sent to the Central Asian country. It’s also true for Italy, where the Parliament has become an office that certifies decisions already made: paper, stamp, protocol. In an article published by La Repubblica on Saturday, we learned that “the leadership of the armed forces has prepared a plan for boosting the Afghan contingent by another 100 soldiers, who will join the 950 already deployed at the Herat base.”The decision will then be “evaluated by [Defense] Minister [Roberta] Pinotti and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. If approved, Gentiloni will have to communicate it to the Chambers. The involvement of parliamentary committees is not ruled out…”