WASHINGTON - Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday in advance of President Donald Trump's primetime speech on Afghanistan, Kaine was asked what is at stake in the war-torn nation, where the United States is in its 16th year of involvement.
"I think the answer is we want to be invested, to put it bluntly," said Kaine, a Democrat who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said U.S. officials should make certain that "what happens in Afghanistan stays in Afghanistan."
Kaine says the country needs a discussion of "the continuing rationale" for being in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump will use a nationally televised address to outline for a war-weary nation the strategy he believes will best position the U.S. to eventually declare victory in Afghanistan after 16 years of combat and lives lost.
The speech Monday night will also give Trump a chance for a reset after one of the most difficult weeks of his short presidency.
Trump tweeted Saturday that he had reached a decision on the way forward in Afghanistan, a day after he reviewed war options with his national security team at a meeting at Camp David, Maryland. The president offered no clues about whether he would send thousands more U.S. troops into Afghanistan or exercise his authority as commander in chief to order that they be withdrawn from America's longest war.
But signs pointed in the direction of Trump continuing the U.S. commitment there. (AP)