LIVE: John McCain Memorial

<p>Tired of waiting for the Trump administration to unveil a revamped strategy for the war in Afghanistan, Sen. John McCain went ahead and created his own.</p><p>McCain&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/95ecf21d-7426-44b1-bc10-cd289034b1b7/mccain-afghanistan-strategy-amendment-to-fy18ndaa-8-10-17.pdf" target="_blank">proposed an amendment</a>&nbsp;to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act advocating increased airstrike availability, ramping up training for Afghan security forces and sending more U.S. troops for counterterrorism operations.&nbsp;</p><p>Off the battlefield, he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=C3ECF1F6-6E14-4110-807A-CD2D5E9BE1D2" target="_blank">also suggested</a>&nbsp;boosting diplomatic pressure by working with some of Afghanistan&#39;s neighbors, making U.S. aid contingent on the government hitting anti-corruption benchmarks and putting pressure on Pakistan to not aid terrorist groups.</p><p>McCain hopes this will secure the country and &quot;encourage and facilitate a negotiated peace process &hellip; and an eventual diplomatic resolution.&quot;</p><p>The proposal could bolster McCain&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/lawmaker-news/313934-mccain-isnt-worried-about-reelection-and-thats-a-good-thing" target="_blank">&quot;maverick&quot; reputation</a>&nbsp;for bucking GOP leadership. He&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/21/mccain-criticizes-trumps-syria-policy-despite-cancer-diagnosis/498248001/" target="_blank">often criticized</a>&nbsp;President Trump, and he helped reject the Senate health care bill Trump and congressional leaders pushed for.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/us-airstrike-kills-several-police-officers-in-afghanistan/">US Airstrike Kills Several Afghan Security Force Members</a></b></p><p>McCain was re-elected in 2016. He isn&#39;t expected to serve another term, which means he won&#39;t have to worry about winning votes for the rest of his six-year term.</p><p>Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis promised to unveil a new Afghanistan strategy&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/346024-mccain-unveils-afghan-strategy-amid-trumps-delay" target="_blank">by mid-July</a>, but the White House couldn&#39;t seem to hammer it out. National security adviser H.R. McMaster reportedly wanted to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-rejects-adviser-s-plan-for-afghanistan/" target="_blank">send more troops</a>, but Trump wasn&#39;t on board.</p><p>It&#39;s important to note that McCain&#39;s amendment can&#39;t actually make the White House&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/politics/john-mccain-afghanistan-strategy/index.html" target="_blank">do anything</a>. But if it passes, it would at least show the White House that there is a plan for Afghanistan that Congress would support.</p><p>Without new direction, the Pentagon has had to continue with its most recent directives &mdash; something McCain isn&#39;t keen on.</p><p>He said: &quot;President Obama&#39;s &#39;don&#39;t lose&#39; strategy has put us on a path to achieving the opposite result. Now, nearly seven months into President Trump&#39;s administration, we&#39;ve had no strategy at all as conditions on the ground have steadily worsened.&quot;</p><p>He&#39;s right about those conditions. Reports from Afghanistan say U.S.-backed forces have struggled to stop the Taliban from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-gives-mattis-authority-to-set-afghanistan-troop-levels/" target="_blank">gaining territory</a>.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/fox-news-eric-bolling-seeking-damages-over-lewd-text-story/">Fox News&#039; Eric Bolling Seeking $50M In Damages Over Lewd Text Story</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/transgender-military-members-sue-trump-over-proposed-ban/">A New Lawsuit Takes Aim At Trump&#039;s Transgender Tweets</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/why-guam-is-north-korea-s-newest-target/">Why This Tiny US Island Is North Korea&#039;s Newest Target</a></li></ul>