National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster helped persuade President Donald Trump to recommit to the Afghanistan war effort by showing him an old photo of Afghan women strolling the streets of Kabul wearing miniskirts.
The visual aid was meant to demonstrate to the president that Western norms could be restored to Afghanistan through U.S. persistence in the war effort that has dragged on for 16 years.
The photo McMaster showed was a 1972 black-and-white image of women in miniskirts walking in the Afghan capital, the Washington Post reported.
The idea was to convince the president that it was not a hopeless cause to continue.
VISUAL AID: National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster helped persuade President Donald Trump to recommit to the Afghanistan war effort by showing him A 1972 black and white image of Afghan women strolling the streets of Kabul in mini-skirts
Previous reports have stated that Trump likes to receive information with charts and other visual aids.
McMaster’s ploy was part of a months long effort by generals and other advisors who wanted him to recommit to the 16-year old war that Trump himself had called a ‘waste’ in a series of tweets before he got elected.
‘My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts,’ Trump said Monday night.
Aghan women in 1979 in the streets of Kabul. Gen. H.R. McMaster showed the president an image of Afghan women in miniskirts to show the city once had western mores that could be restored with more troops
Others in the administration, like forced out chief strategist Stephen Bannon, were urging a decision to cut the nation’s losses. As it turns out, both Bannon and former chief of staff Reince Priebus were forced out in the final weeks of the Afghan strategy.
Trump referenced his decision-making process in his speech. ”So I studied Afghanistan in great detail and from every conceivable angle. After many meetings, over many months, we held our final meeting last Friday at Camp David, with my cabinet and generals, to complete our strategy,’ the president said.
Picture taken in 1962 of Afghan women passing by a street in Kabul. As four of them are dressed in a complete head-to-toe garment with a mesh covered opening for the eyes, one is clad at the Western style
Afghan women have been permitted to be unvieled in public since 1959. Kabul, Afghanistan
President Donald Trump announces his strategy for the war in Afghanistan during an address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, U.S., August 21, 2017
Defense Sec. James Mattis also warned the president of the consequences of withdrawal – and the president’s remarks made repeated reference to the risks of a ‘hasty’ removal of forces.
A third general, new White House chief of staff John Kelly, also held sway, as the trio of men with decades of military experience persuaded the commander in chief to keep up the fight.
‘Talking to generals, he realized, you pull out completely and this is what happens: You endanger lives, you endanger American interests, allies, troops, Afghanis who are our friends, and it’s not a stable government,’ an official told the paper.
McMaster chafed at a Bannon proposal to rely on military contractors backed up by just a small contingent of U.S. troops.
Ivanka Trump, US First Lady Melania Trump and US Vice President Mike Pence await the arrival of US President Donald Trump to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2016, Afghan women, who were displaced by Kunduz fighting between Afghan forces and Taliban insurgents, gather at a makeshift camp in the outskirts of Kabul
Afghan shoes maker work at the roadside as burqa-clad women walk in a street market in Kabul,Afghanistan on October 28,2014. The war-torn country still faces poverty, unemployment and lack of infrastructure
A view of the destruction caused by a suicide truck bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 1, 2017. At least 90 people were killed and over 400 were wounded after the explosion
First lady Melania Trump (C-R) stands with Ivanka Trump (C) before US President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks on American involvement in Afghanistan at the Fort Myer military base in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 21 August 2017
Breitbart News, where Bannon returned, on Monday ran a story quoting Prince defending his proposal to rely on a private army of 5,500.
‘Sadly, I anticipate [Trump] to roll over and accept the same failed DOD paradigm of the last 16 years,’ Prince, the founder of the former Blackwater USA firm, told Breitbart.
‘As interested in diversity as the Pentagon claims to be, they aren’t interested in diversity of opinions on how to end their longest war,’ he continued.
Bannon departed from his post on Friday, and wasn’t at the Camp David decision-making retreat.