WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump met with U.S. service members here on Tuesday as the Pentagon was still working on a new Afghanistan strategy.
"I've heard plenty of ideas from a lot of people, but I want to hear it from people on the ground," Trump told reporters before the luncheon with service members at the White House.
"We've been there for now close to 17 years, and I want to find out why we've been there for 17 years, how it's going, and what we should do in terms of additional ideas," Trump added.
For months, the Pentagon had been working on a new Afghanistan strategy and CNN previously cited two Trump administration officials as saying that Trump and his national security team were scheduled to meet this week to discuss U.S. strategy for Afghanistan.
A key part of the new Afghanistan strategy would be setting new U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama had planned to reduce the current number of 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to some 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when his presidency came to an end.
However, given the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the Obama administration repeatedly postponed the withdrawal.
Currently, there are about 8,400 U.S. troops and another 5,000 forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the ground in Afghanistan to train and assist the Afghan forces against the Taliban, and conduct counter-terrorism missions.
The prospect of new U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan came at a time when senior U.S. officials warned of dire security situation in Afghanistan.
In a congressional hearing in June, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that United States was still "not winning" the longest U.S. war in Afghanistan.
U.S. National Intelligence Director Dan Coats also warned in May that the security situation in Afghanistan would most likely deteriorate in the future even if the United States and its allies offer more military aid.
