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Trump says it’s ‘possible’ for new Afghan government to include Taliban elements
SAM Report, August 22, 2017
In his speech about future US strategy in Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump said that Washington will pursue “integration of all instruments of American power: diplomatic, economic, and military.” This may include making peace with some elements of the Taliban and making them part of a new Afghan government.
Donald Trump announces his strategy for the war in Afghanistan during an address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, USA.
Donald Trump vowed to maintain America’s military commitment in Afghanistan, sustaining America’s longest war and reversing his previously staunch resistance to the US engagement there.
While multiple news outlets reported earlier in the day that Mr Trump was ready to commit as many as 4,000 more troops to the country, the President pointedly declined to state specific details about troop totals. But he made it clear that he planned to keep troops in Afghanistan as a bulwark against violence, even as he said “the American people are weary of war without victory”.
“Terror groups will stop at nothing to commit the mass murder of innocent men, women and children,” Mr Trump said.
Saying America’s “strategy will change dramatically” in Afghanistan, Mr Trump vowed to delegate more authority to military commanders, saying “micromanagement from Washington, DC does not win battles.” He also sought to define the limits of America’s involvement approach, saying its future in Afghanistan would shift to a “time-based approach to one based on conditions”.
“Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on”, Mr Trump said, before underscoring his wariness of a prolonged intervention.
“We are not nation building again,” Mr Trump said, invoking a term he has consistently rejected as a basis for American foreign policy. “We are killing terrorists”.
Before he entered the political arena Mr Trump frequently blasted the conflict as a lost cause and a drain on America, and he has built his foreign policy on resistance to overextending American forces abroad. But in past weeks military officials have warned that the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan imperils American gains, setting off a debate within the administration over how to proceed.
Mr Trump referenced that hesitation in his speech, saying “my original instinct was to pull out” but that he was dissuaded by the risk of terrorist groups rushing into a security vacuum, saying Afghanistan and Pakistan have “the highest concentration” of terror groups of “any region of the world.”
“We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq,” Mr Trump said, referencing the rise of Isis after the departure of American troops from that country.
The decision also hinted at the dynamics of a White House without Steve Bannon. The former top strategist, who departed last week, was a leading non-interventionist voice opposing an Afghanistan escalation.
Afghanistan scarcely figured in the 2016 presidential campaign. Without specifically articulating a vision for America’s role in the war-convulsed country, Mr Trump’s foreign policy emphasized scaling back involvement in conflicts abroad and curbing the spread of Islamic extremism. His first major speech on the subject rejected “nation-building”, and in accepting the Republican nomination he warned that “the situation [in the Middle East] is worse than it has ever been before” despite years of costly American intervention.
“We don’t want to have a depleted military, because we’re all over the place fighting in areas that just we shouldn’t be fighting in,” Mr Trump said in a December speech after winning the election. “We have spent, at last count, $6 trillion in the Middle East, and our roads have potholes all over. Our highways are falling apart. Our bridges are falling.”
But Mr Trump and his advisers have said in recent weeks that the turbulent situation in Afghanistan requires a response. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis flatly told Congress in June “we are not winning in Afghanistan,” echoing the concerns of military officials who had told lawmakers they needed more troops, and Mr Trump told reporters earlier this month that “I took over a mess and we’re going to make it a lot less messy.”
In the years leading up to his presidential run, Mr Trump frequently assailed America’s presence in Afghanistan for squandering lives and money. He repeatedly said on Twitter that America should “get out” of Afghanistan, writing in early 2013 that the departure should happen “immediately.”
Once he became a contender for the 2016 nomination, Mr Trump moderated that stance. While he called the decision to invade Afghanistan “a terrible mistake” in 2015 – a criticism he disavowed late that month – he supported keeping troops in Afghanistan to prevent a “collapse”.
“I think it’s important, number one, that we keep a presence there and ideally a presence of pretty much what they’re talking about – 5,000 soldiers,” Mr Trump said at the time.
Multiple presidents have struggled with America’s protracted entanglement with Afghanistan. After first committing tens of thousands of additional service members in an effort to stabilize the country, Barack Obama pledged to slim America’s commitment there to 5,500 troops by the end of his term. But he backed off that pledge and retained 8,400 service members there as a bulwark against terrorism.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...w-afghan-government-include-taliban-elements/
SAM Report, August 22, 2017
In his speech about future US strategy in Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump said that Washington will pursue “integration of all instruments of American power: diplomatic, economic, and military.” This may include making peace with some elements of the Taliban and making them part of a new Afghan government.
Donald Trump announces his strategy for the war in Afghanistan during an address to the nation from Fort Myer, Virginia, USA.
Donald Trump vowed to maintain America’s military commitment in Afghanistan, sustaining America’s longest war and reversing his previously staunch resistance to the US engagement there.
While multiple news outlets reported earlier in the day that Mr Trump was ready to commit as many as 4,000 more troops to the country, the President pointedly declined to state specific details about troop totals. But he made it clear that he planned to keep troops in Afghanistan as a bulwark against violence, even as he said “the American people are weary of war without victory”.
“Terror groups will stop at nothing to commit the mass murder of innocent men, women and children,” Mr Trump said.
Saying America’s “strategy will change dramatically” in Afghanistan, Mr Trump vowed to delegate more authority to military commanders, saying “micromanagement from Washington, DC does not win battles.” He also sought to define the limits of America’s involvement approach, saying its future in Afghanistan would shift to a “time-based approach to one based on conditions”.
“Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on”, Mr Trump said, before underscoring his wariness of a prolonged intervention.
“We are not nation building again,” Mr Trump said, invoking a term he has consistently rejected as a basis for American foreign policy. “We are killing terrorists”.
Before he entered the political arena Mr Trump frequently blasted the conflict as a lost cause and a drain on America, and he has built his foreign policy on resistance to overextending American forces abroad. But in past weeks military officials have warned that the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan imperils American gains, setting off a debate within the administration over how to proceed.
Mr Trump referenced that hesitation in his speech, saying “my original instinct was to pull out” but that he was dissuaded by the risk of terrorist groups rushing into a security vacuum, saying Afghanistan and Pakistan have “the highest concentration” of terror groups of “any region of the world.”
“We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq,” Mr Trump said, referencing the rise of Isis after the departure of American troops from that country.
The decision also hinted at the dynamics of a White House without Steve Bannon. The former top strategist, who departed last week, was a leading non-interventionist voice opposing an Afghanistan escalation.
Afghanistan scarcely figured in the 2016 presidential campaign. Without specifically articulating a vision for America’s role in the war-convulsed country, Mr Trump’s foreign policy emphasized scaling back involvement in conflicts abroad and curbing the spread of Islamic extremism. His first major speech on the subject rejected “nation-building”, and in accepting the Republican nomination he warned that “the situation [in the Middle East] is worse than it has ever been before” despite years of costly American intervention.
“We don’t want to have a depleted military, because we’re all over the place fighting in areas that just we shouldn’t be fighting in,” Mr Trump said in a December speech after winning the election. “We have spent, at last count, $6 trillion in the Middle East, and our roads have potholes all over. Our highways are falling apart. Our bridges are falling.”
But Mr Trump and his advisers have said in recent weeks that the turbulent situation in Afghanistan requires a response. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis flatly told Congress in June “we are not winning in Afghanistan,” echoing the concerns of military officials who had told lawmakers they needed more troops, and Mr Trump told reporters earlier this month that “I took over a mess and we’re going to make it a lot less messy.”
In the years leading up to his presidential run, Mr Trump frequently assailed America’s presence in Afghanistan for squandering lives and money. He repeatedly said on Twitter that America should “get out” of Afghanistan, writing in early 2013 that the departure should happen “immediately.”
Once he became a contender for the 2016 nomination, Mr Trump moderated that stance. While he called the decision to invade Afghanistan “a terrible mistake” in 2015 – a criticism he disavowed late that month – he supported keeping troops in Afghanistan to prevent a “collapse”.
“I think it’s important, number one, that we keep a presence there and ideally a presence of pretty much what they’re talking about – 5,000 soldiers,” Mr Trump said at the time.
Multiple presidents have struggled with America’s protracted entanglement with Afghanistan. After first committing tens of thousands of additional service members in an effort to stabilize the country, Barack Obama pledged to slim America’s commitment there to 5,500 troops by the end of his term. But he backed off that pledge and retained 8,400 service members there as a bulwark against terrorism.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...w-afghan-government-include-taliban-elements/
