In backflip, Trump extends Afghan commitment

[손명숙]

(Middle East Today Wednesday 23 August 2017)

In backflip, Trump extends Afghan commitment

President Donald Trump speaking at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday,

during a presidential address to the nation. In a speech offering few specifics,

Mr Trump promised a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents

who have gained ground against the US-backed Afghan government. Photo: AP

President bows to military advice, pledges more troops instead of withdrawing

Published: 4:00 AM, August 23, 2017

WASHINGTON — Reversing course from his campaign pledges, President Donald Trump on Monday night (United States local time) committed the US to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, signalling he would dispatch more troops to America’s longest war and vowing “a fight to win”.

In a speech offering few specifics, Mr Trump promised a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground against the US-backed Afghan government, and singled out Pakistan for harbouring militants.

“We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists,” he said in a prime-time televised address at a military base outside Washington.

Mr Trump ran for the US presidency calling for a swift US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and he acknowledged on Monday that he was going against his instincts in approving the new campaign plan sought by his military advisers. “The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable,” he said. “A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including Isis (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Al Qaeda, would instantly fill.”

The Republican president, who has criticised his predecessors for setting deadlines for drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, declined to put a timeline on expanded US military operations in Afghanistan.

Mr Trump now inherits the same challenges as predecessors George W Bush and Barack Obama, including a stubborn Taliban insurgency and a weak, divided government in Kabul. He is laying the groundwork for greater US involvement without a clear end in sight or providing specific benchmarks for success.

US officials said he had signed off on Defence Secretary James Mattis’ plans to send about 4,000 more troops to add to the roughly 8,400 now deployed in Afghanistan.

Mr Mattis said he had directed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to carry out the strategy and that he would be consulting with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and other US allies, several of which had also committed to increasing troops.

Mr Trump warned that US support “is not a blank cheque”, and insisted he would not engage in “nation-building”, a practice he has accused his predecessors of doing at huge cost.

Through the speech, Mr Trump insisted that others — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nato allies — step up their own commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict.

Mr Trump saved his sharpest words for Pakistan. “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens,” he said. “Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour terrorists.”

Senior US officials warned that Washington could reduce security assistance for Islamabad unless the nuclear-armed nation cooperates more in preventing militants from using safe havens on its soil.

In response to Mr Trump’s remarks, Pakistan called yesterday for peace in Afghanistan and pledged to work to eliminate terrorism.

It remains to be seen if Mr Trump’s rhetoric will change Pakistan’s calculations in Afghanistan, which it sees as a vital strategic interest.

A US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Islamist Taliban government for harbouring Al Qaeda militants who plotted the Sept 11 attacks.

But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of Mr Bush, Mr Obama and now Mr Trump.

Mr Trump’s speech came after a months-long review of US policy in which the president frequently tangled with his top advisers on the future of American involvement in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents have been making territorial gains.

US military and intelligence officials are concerned that a Taliban victory over Afghan president Ashraf Ghani’s government would allow Al Qaeda and the Isis regional affiliate to establish bases in Afghanistan from which to plot attacks against America and its allies. AGENCIES