The website EveryCRSReport.com publishes Congressional Research Service reports which Congress does not make available to the public. These reports contain succinct analysis to inform Congress on policy issues.

Recently, a report examined the issue of placing additional military forces in Afghanistan. The bottom line:

Given the complexity of the campaign, along with the imprecise nature of U.S. goals for the region and absent a definitive statement from the Trump Administration regarding its priorities, it is currently difficult to evaluate the likely impact that additional forces may have.

The image below shows an Airman assigned to watch over Afghan workers employed at Kandahar Air Field. It is important to consider the opportunity cost of using highly skilled military forces in this role. Many foreign governments require the U.S. to employ local workers as a condition for hosting military bases. Low productivity and the need for constant monitoring drain resources.

Before assigning additional troops to Afghanistan, the U.S. should ensure that military personnel in theater today are effectively utilized.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Corey Hook (https://flic.kr/p/aaiZTY)