President Trump gave a nationally televised speech at Fort Myer in Virginia on Monday to “lay out our path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.” But he declined to specify exactly how U.S. strategy in the 16-year-old Afghan War would change, saying, “We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on.” Even if he had provided more details, American plans in Afghanistan have rarely followed the script.