other than i know the approach is going to be, as i said, similar to what we have had success wells, as secretary mattis describes it. it s a by, with and through approach. that s part of why the need for step up and troop levels is so we can now at the battalion level organize and help the afghan army fight in a different way with close ground advisement at the battalion level and the ability to call in support on a more timely basis as needed to ensure victory as opposed to either stale mate or defeat. with respect to the comment about russia, to the extent russia is supplying arms to the taliban, that is a violation, obviously, of international norm, violation of u.n. security council norms. we certainly would object to that and call russia s attention to that. if anyone s going to supply arms, it needs to be through the afghan government. in terms of our footprint on the ground, we have very competent
operation side of it, i would really defer to the department of defense to answer that one. other than i know the approach is going to be, as i said, similar to what we have had success elsewhere. as secretary mattis describes it, it s a by, with, and through approach. that s part of why the need for a step-up in troop levels is now we can at the battalion level organize and help the afghan army fight in a different way with close ground advisement at the battalion level and the ability to call in support on a more timely basis as needed to ensure victory as opposed to either stalemate or defeat. with respect to the comment about russia, to the extent russia is supplying arms to the taliban, that is a violation, obviously, of international norms, and it s a violation of u.n. security council norms. we certainly would object to that and call russia s attention to that. if anyone s going to supply arms, it needs to be through the