New policy will apply both to Afghanistan and Pakistan: McMaster

[HAIDER]

WASHINGTON: US National Security Adviser Gen H.R. McMaster has said that the Trump administration is working on a policy which would apply to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and would be announced soon.

This marks the first time a senior US official has said that the new policy would also cover Pakistan as previous statements defined it only as the Afghan policy. “And so what we’ll have at the end of the next few weeks here is an opportunity for a much more effective strategy for the problem set in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the region broadly,” Gen McMaster told a White House news briefing this weekend.

The adviser said the administration was considering a proposal to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan and President Donald Trump would decide when to do so after he returns from his foreign trips later this month.

Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, requested a “few thousand” more US troops during congressional hearings earlier this year. Currently, there are about 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan, along with about 4,500 from Nato and other allied nations. President Trump has delegated the authority to set troop levels in Iraq and Syria to his Defence Secretary James Mattis, but decisions on Afghanistan would be from the White House. Gen McMaster chairs a team of senior security advisers who are preparing the US policy for the Pak-Afghan region, which he says would also apply to the broader South Asian region.

Trump to discuss his anti-terrorism policies with Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia
Last week, Gen McMaster submitted some proposals to the president, including suggestions for sending 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan while America’s Nato allies would also be asked to send more troops.

The US needs more time to “figure out with our allies options we can bring to the table” in Afghanistan, and “what more can we ask our allies to do,” said Gen McMaster while explaining how this process would work.

President Trump is expected to discuss his anti-terrorism policies with Arab and Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia next where he is scheduled to attend a summit of about 20 nations from across the Muslim world. The US media reported on Saturday that Mr Trump was also finalising a $100 billion arms deal for Saudi Arabia, which might be announced during the visit.

Mr Trump will also visit Israel and attend a Nato summit in Rome where he may brief his allies on his new Afghan policy and ask them for more troops.

When asked whether the trip represents a shift in Mr Trump’s “America first” campaign slogan, Gen McMaster said, “America first didn’t ever mean America alone, ever. America first didn’t mean America not leading.”

Gen McMaster said that Mr Trump during his trip to Saudi Arabia would also discuss “bold new steps to promote peace and to confront those from ISIS to Al Qaeda to Iran to the Assad regime [in Syria] who perpetuate chaos and violence” in the region.

The president “expects our Muslim allies to take a strong stand against radical Islamist ideology,” he added

Asked what would the president discuss in Riyadh and Brussels, Gen McMaster said he would stress the need for “all of us have to be committed to achieving our fundamental objectives in Afghanistan,” which is never to allow extremists to use that country once again for launching terrorist attacks.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2017

 

[StraightShooter]

 

[Panzerkampf]

5000 more US troops in Afghanistan.

 

[GlobalVillageSpace]

McMaster creates a new worry for Pakistan
Global Village Space |

News Analysis |

The US National Security Adviser Gen H.R. McMaster has said that the Trump administration is working on a policy which will apply to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and will be announced soon.

The US is mulling over a military-heavy policy option to turn the tables in Afghanistan since it employed the GBU 43 bomb against IS last month in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. A change in policy was deemed necessary because of Taliban’s unabated resurgence. There have been many deliberations and statements but McMaster is the first senior official who has talked about the new policy applying to Pakistan too.

The reference to Pakistan came days after the Intelligence community in the US raised doubts on Islamabad’s fight against terror.

“And so what we’ll have at the end of the next few weeks here is an opportunity for a much more effective strategy for the problem set in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the region broadly,” Gen McMaster told a White House news briefing this weekend.

The adviser said the administration was considering a proposal to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan and President Donald Trump would decide when to do so after he returns from his foreign trips later this month. This is in-line with the request of the US commander General John Nicholson.

Read more: Pakistan-based Terror Groups will Target India and Afghanistan, warns US spymaster

In a statement to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director National Intelligence Daniel R Coats talked about the threats emanating from Pakistan to its neighbors and the United States.

“Pakistani-based terrorist groups will present a sustained threat to US interests in the region and continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan. The threat to the United States and the West from Pakistani-based terrorist groups will be persistent but diffuse.”
– Daniel R Coats

He mentioned, “Islamabad’s failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhi’s growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistan’s investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016.”

The word is that this new be Pentagon-led strategy will revolve around increased troop presence and aerial bombings. Recent events have compelled the US to think about a policy shift. The Taliban are attacking the US-trained ANA with impunity, as of now, they control 58% of Afghan territory.

The obvious inability of the Afghan state organs in dealing with the Taliban coupled with the Kabul-Delhi joint demand for action against Pakistan has forced the US to vociferously reiterate its “do more” demand.

What should Islamabad expect?
Pakistan is currently being accused of festering two potent resistance movements, one in Kashmir and the other in Afghanistan. Kabul, and New Delhi clamor for controlling an “unbridled and unruly” Pakistan through stern measures. Pakistan is thus engaged in tiffs with Afghanistan and India, both of which are likely to conflagrate further.

Chances are that the US might up its drone and aerial campaign to target alleged camps in FATA. Further, the US could also put pressure on Islamabad to clamp down on alleged training camps of Jihadi outfits like Lashkar e Taiba.

Read full article:
McMaster creates a new worry for Pakistan

 

[Panzerkampf]

Wrong info in article.
Afghan gov't controls 58% of territory, Taliban only 10-15%. Rest is contested.

 

[313ghazi]

The US is mulling over a military-heavy policy option to turn the tables in Afghanistan since it employed the GBU 43 bomb against IS last month in Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

Good luck to them, Obama tried a "surge" too. The fact of the matter is unless they stop trying to influence who is in power in Kabul and how the run their country, the real power in Afghanistan (pukhtun tribes) will continue to use the Taliban and other groups as a front to defeat foreign troops and puppet governments. They will fight dirty, America can't match that, not even with all it's troops. The Russians subdued a tiny territory like Chechnya through mass genocide of Chechen males, and even then they ended up handing over control and money to a Chechen warlord to keep the peace. Today his son is in charge.

The US would have to do the same in Afghanistan, but they would still lose as there are more pukhtun in Pakistan than there are in Afghanistan, they won't sit by and watch genocide. Today the Pakistani's, Chinese and Russians also see the Taliban as useful fools, a tool by which to make sure western interests cannot take root in Afghanistan. There is only defeat for America in Afghanistan, so many people are willing to fight to the last Afghan.

I pray Allah brings peace to Afghanistan and it's war weary people, they don't deserve to be trapped in this game.

 

[LeGenD]

This article is intentionally toned to give the impression that US is going to penalize Pakistan or something like that; utterly misleading.

Take a look at following accounts:

https://www.dawn.com/news/1333236

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...tan-pakistan-gen-mcmaster-117051500451_1.html

And;

https://twitter.com/x/status/864094904460378112

Looks like US and Pakistan are going to work closely to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the region.

 

[Fledgingwings]

From USA,Who doesnt?

 

[Great Sachin]

interesting..................

 

[Eagle_storm]

To busy isis with afghan militia.. And the rest of the gas from their side will come to Pakistan.to avoid from this gas Pakistan already invited russia and china..take a bath mr. America and raw

 

[Samurai_assassin]

A lame attempt to destabilise CPEC by captain America

 

[IceCold]

Misleading article. Had the US tone being the same as predicted by the article, we would had seen many attacks on Pakistan already. The fact that it did not happen and moreover US dropped MOAB on Afghan side to dismantle tunnel network used to cross over into Pakistan and attack means they are accepting that Pakistan is not part pf the problem. US even gave green light to Pakistan to struck targets inside Afghanistan which further shows that Trump administration does not believe what India and Afghanistan wants to sell.