President Trump explains his decision to pursue victory in Afghanistan

CBS News:

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First, our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome, worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made, especially the sacrifices of lives. The men and women who serve our nation in combat, deserve a plan for victory. They deserve the tools that they need and the trust they have earned to fight and to win.

Second, the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from Afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists including ISIS and Al-Qaeda would instantly fill, just as happened before September 11th and as we know in 2011 when America hastily and mistakenly withdrew from Iraq. As a result, our hard-fought gains slipped back into the hands of terrorist enemies. Our soldiers watched as cities they had fought for and bled to liberate and won were occupied by a terrorist group called ISIS. The vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven to ISIS to spread to grow, recruit and launch attacks. We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq.

Third, and finally, I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader regions are immense. Today, 20 U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The highest concentration in any region, anywhere in the world. For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror. The threat is even worse because Pakistan and India are two nuclear-armed states whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict — and that could happen.

No one denies that we have inherited a challenging and troubling situation in Afghanistan and South Asia. But we do not have the luxury of going back in time and making different or better decisions. When I became president, I was given a bad and very complex hand but I fully knew what I was getting into - big and intricate problems. But, one way or another these problems will be solved - I am a problem solver. And in the end, we will win. We must address the reality of the world as it exists right now.

The threats we face and the confronting of all of the problems of today and extremely predictable consequences of a hasty withdrawal. We need look no further than last week's vicious, vile attack in Barcelona to understand that terror groups will stop at nothing to commit the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children. You saw it for yourself. Horrible.
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Working alongside our allies, we will break their will, dry up their recruitment, keep them from crossing our borders, and yes, we will defeat them and we will defeat them handily.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, America's interests are clear. We must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten America. And we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us or anywhere in the world for that matter.

But to prosecute this war, we will learn from history. As a result of our comprehensive review, American strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia will change dramatically in the following ways:

A core pillar of our new strategy is a shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions. I've said it many times how counterproductive it is for the United States to announce in advance the dates we intend to begin or end military options.

We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground -- not arbitrary timetables -- will guide our strategy from now on.

America's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will.
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There is much more.

Pakistan will be challenged on its policy of sheltering terrorists.

The overall focus is on destroying the enemy and its sanctuaries.  Trump will take the gloves off of the military and there will be no more micromanaging by amateurs in the White House as there was under President Obama.  There will be no more withdrawal schedules announced to the enemy.  Where Obama's policies gave hope to the enemy, Trump's policies will be to destroy their illusions of hope that the US will just walk away.

This was one of Trump's better speeches.  It was well scripted and he stuck with the script.  He needs to do more of that.