US 'not winning' in Afghanistan: Pentagon chief

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis told exasperated lawmakers Tuesday that America still is "not winning" in Afghanistan, as US military commanders push for additional troops to help stabilize the country's security crisis. Mattis's latest assessment comes nearly 16 years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and amid a war that continues to claim the lives of US troops each year -- and those of thousands of local forces and civilians. The "Taliban had a good year last year, they are trying to have a good one this year," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing about the Pentagon's budget.