Afghan pullout to hurt Pakistan, India: Obama

[SpArK]

Afghan pullout to hurt Pakistan, India: Obama​

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, in an interview published on Tuesday, warned that neither Pakistan nor India would be better off if the United States walked out of Afghanistan.

Talking to the Rolling Stone magazine, President Obama also conceded that for the US, Afghanistan had proven to be harder than Iraq.

“Keep in mind that the decision I have to make is always, ‘If we’re not doing this, then what does that mean? What are the consequences?’” he said.

“I don’t know anybody who has examined the region who thinks that if we completely pulled out of Afghanistan, the Karzai regime collapsed, Kabul was overrun once again by the Taliban, and Sharia law was imposed throughout the country, that we would be safer,” he added.

“Or the Afghan people would be better off, or Pakistan would be better off, or India would be better off or that we would see a reduction in potential terrorist attacks around the world. You can’t make that argument.”

Mr Obama, who inherited the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said if an analyst were to examine the cause of frustration in America’s progressive community, “clearly, Afghanistan has to be near the top of the list, may be at the top of the list”.

The US leader admitted that Afghanistan had been “very hard stuff” but rejected the assumption that the United States had failed in that country.

“I knew it was hard a year ago, and I suspect a year from now, I will conclude that it’s still hard, and it’s messy,” he said. But America’s policies in Afghanistan had not “failed or succeeded yet”, he added.

Mr Obama pointed out that US troops had succeeded in creating a line of security around Kandahar, but “there’s no doubt that Kandahar is not yet a secure place any more than Mosul or Fallujah were secure in certain phases of the Iraq War”.

Acknowledging the overall objective of making the country completely secure was still distant, Mr Obama said: “I will also agree that Afghanistan is harder than Iraq. This is the second-poorest country in the world.’’


DAWN.COM | Front Page | Afghan pullout to hurt Pakistan, India: Obama

 

[somebozo]

Wont hurts India that much and the Pakistan has already been hurt with US invasion..its time to consolidate the fall out!

 

[Omar1984]

I dont know about india, but Afghan pullout will benefit both Pakistan and the United States.


If Al Qaeda was behind 9/11 then America has already won the war because Al Qaeda are in their weakest state so theres no need for American troops or NATO troops to be in Afghanistan. Let Pakistan deal with the Taliban, Pakistan has been dealing with the Taliban for more than 20 years.

 

[somebozo]

What talibans asked was a small wrist slap and what they got was some good spanking!

 

[su-47]

I dont know about india,

Well all the investments, efforts, goodwill building etc that India put into Afghanistan will go down the toilet if Taliban take over. And more importantly we will have to look for another route to Central Asia

but Afghan pullout will benefit both Pakistan and the United States.

Ok, please explain. US pride will be bruised, influence in the area will diminish and Taliban Al Qaeda will be able to plot attacks on USA more effectively. But yes, USA will save a lot of money.

And how will Pakistan benefit? By making peace with Taliban?

If Al Qaeda was behind 9/11 then America has already won the war because Al Qaeda are in their weakest state so theres no need for American troops or NATO troops to be in Afghanistan.

No, winning a war is decided by completion of objectives. USA's stated objectives were to destroy Al Qaeda, and stabilise Afghanistan. They haven't don either. If they pull out, its definitely a loss for them.

Let Pakistan deal with the Taliban, Pakistan has been dealing with the Taliban for more than 20 years.

Things have changed my friend. The Taliban's agenda for radicalisation of Pakistan is evident. Honestly, how do u plan to deal with these monsters?

 

[TaimiKhan]

Nothing for India in it, no hurting no damage.

And for Pakistan also, it may not hurt, rather solve lot of problems, but may give rise to once again influx of refugees.

We do know, that Taliban will not be able to take control of whole Afghanistan, the Taliban - Northern Alliance situation would again raise up, thus taliban will have to fight the NA and commit its resources over there, and in that situation, Pakistan can fully work and finish the elements who are after Pakistan and getting help from across the border.

So a win situation for Pakistan, but refugees problem will have to be taken into account and best option is not to let them in this time. And those which are already here, should be deported asap.

The only one hurt would be the west and US, as their standing in world, respect & image will take a hit, as they messed up the whole situation, and with billions spent and thousands of lives lost, they achieved nothing.

 

[karan.1970]

I dont know about india, but Afghan pullout will benefit both Pakistan and the United States.


If Al Qaeda was behind 9/11 then America has already won the war because Al Qaeda are in their weakest state so theres no need for American troops or NATO troops to be in Afghanistan. Let Pakistan deal with the Taliban, Pakistan has been dealing with the Taliban for more than 20 years.

You mean Pakistan has been strengthning Taliban for 20 years..?? The time is now past. They have grown beyond the control of Pakistan and the same is evident in the attacks that you see in your country. The only option left to Pakistan would be to strike a deal with the devil.. And that just postpones the inevitable..

 

[karan.1970]

Nothing for India in it, no hurting no damage.

And for Pakistan also, it may not hurt, rather solve lot of problems, but may give rise to once again influx of refugees.

We do know, that Taliban will not be able to take control of whole Afghanistan, the Taliban - Northern Alliance situation would again raise up, thus taliban will have to fight the NA and commit its resources over there, and in that situation, Pakistan can fully work and finish the elements who are after Pakistan and getting help from across the border.

So a win situation for Pakistan, but refugees problem will have to be taken into account and best option is not to let them in this time. And those which are already here, should be deported asap.

The only one hurt would be the west and US, as their standing in world, respect & image will take a hit, as they messed up the whole situation, and with billions spent and thousands of lives lost, they achieved nothing.

And thats precisely why NATO will not walk out of Afghanistan. IN case of vietnam, there was no threat of Vietnam hitting back at US mainland, and hence the public opinion turned against the Govt. IN this case the spectre of 9/11 is enough to gain public support for next couple of decades.

Also, USA has been smart enough to contain its casualties by including Afghan and other NATO forces to dilute the hits of US soldiers. On financial front, its really China thats financing most of this thru its loans to USA..

So all in all, USA is in here for the long haul. In all probability Republicans are going to be back in 2012 and they surely are less conciliatory and more aggressive on this issue..

Just my 2 cents

 

[footmarks]

Let Pakistan deal with the Taliban, Pakistan has been dealing with the Taliban for more than 20 years.

Thats exactly the reason why afgan pullout will hurt India.

 

[prototype]

India is definitely going to get hurt,more more than $1 billion investment,all will b enjoyed by Afghan Taliban and its controller Pakistan

but the most affected will b afghani's themselves,once again they will b pushed back to stone age and have to witness the talibani atrocities

 

[TaimiKhan]

And thats precisely why NATO will not walk out of Afghanistan. IN case of vietnam, there was no threat of Vietnam hitting back at US mainland, and hence the public opinion turned against the Govt. IN this case the spectre of 9/11 is enough to gain public support for next couple of decades.

Also, USA has been smart enough to contain its casualties by including Afghan and other NATO forces to dilute the hits of US soldiers. On financial front, its really China thats financing most of this thru its loans to USA..

So all in all, USA is in here for the long haul. In all probability Republicans are going to be back in 2012 and they surely are less conciliatory and more aggressive on this issue..

Just my 2 cents

Their people are already talking about pulling out of Afghanistan, plus in last 9 years of occupation, what good has come out of it ?? Taliban have grown stronger, rather then being weak.

Well, even if its China who is giving loan to the US, in the end the loser would be the US, as its debt will be at high point. And things may not be the same for always, meaning China keeping on giving the loan to US. By the way, US economy runs on debt, not a new thing.

And had NATO / US serious about Afghanistan, they would have committed more troops, rather it seems they are not serious enough about Afghanistan, nor want it to be stabilized.

Well, as casualties rise, peoples opinion change, which we already are seeing.

Yeah, if US once again engineers another 9/11 kind of incident, then things would be different.

 

[softtec]

Their people are already talking about pulling out of Afghanistan, plus in last 9 years of occupation, what good has come out of it ?? Taliban have grown stronger, rather then being weak.

Well, even if its China who is giving loan to the US, in the end the loser would be the US, as its debt will be at high point. And things may not be the same for always, meaning China keeping on giving the loan to US. By the way, US economy runs on debt, not a new thing.

And had NATO / US serious about Afghanistan, they would have committed more troops, rather it seems they are not serious enough about Afghanistan, nor want it to be stabilized.

Well, as casualties rise, peoples opinion change, which we already are seeing.

Yeah, if US once again engineers another 9/11 kind of incident, then things would be different.

1)It depends on what u think/want of good to come out.In my view there are major major social/political/economical changes and improvements happened and going to happen since Taliban regime.
2) By 2015 west will make a decent afghan army both in quantity and quality, to fight with taliban. They will be in better number, more professional and skilled and with heavy ammunition.
3)A majority of nato and us soldiers will leave, but still about 30-40k spacial forces/ highly skilled forces will be there(In Iraq still 50k us soldiers in barrack).US will reduce their foot numbers, but there will not be any problem to maintain all the ammunition /aircraft/UAV etc.These are enough to defeat anything taliban can come with.
4)In my view by this time Taliban will be much weaker.They will remain as a strong insurgent group, but can't have anything to capture/defeat/govern a big piece of land.