Story of the Week •
August 24th, 2017
Trump to Send More Troops to Afghanistan
President Trump announced that America will be sending approximately 4000 more troops to Afghanistan. This comes after his harsh criticisms of both President Bush and Obama for their decisions in Iraq. The concern is that pulling all of America's troops out of Afghanistan would lead to a void that ISIS could take advantage of.
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Snippets from the Left
The New Yorker
"In a little under two thousand words, Mujahid laid out his argument: the Taliban could not be defeated by the United States, the war was unnecessary, and the U.S. should go home. 'President of America!' he concluded. 'Perhaps some contents of this letter will prove bitter for your taste. But since they are realities and tangible facts, they must be accepted and treated as bitter medicine that is taken by patients out of fear of seeing their condition deteriorate.'
As the chaotic initial weeks of Trump’s Administration unfolded, the Taliban appeared to gather hope that the President would decide to withdraw from Afghanistan, as he had once advocated. 'So far he has shown no visible interest in this faraway theatre,' an online Taliban post noted in April. 'The Trump Administration should embody their people’s spirit and stop supporting a ‘losing horse.’ They should save their blood and tears for a more important day and a more important conflict.'"
More Snippets from the Left
Guest Writer, Washington Post
"His remarks, which indicated more troops for Afghanistan, came down like a ton of bricks on Pakistan’s continued patronage of terrorist groups. The speech was a lucid — and long-overdue — recognition: The United States’ 16-year war in Afghanistan has been floundering partly due to Pakistan’s dualism on terrorism, as well as Washington’s dualism on Pakistan.
...
So what happens next? Pakistan has always looked for 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan because of paranoia about India’s rising influence. Trump’s courting of Indian involvement may have two possible outcomes. An enraged security establishment in Pakistan could step up help to terrorist groups to retain control and use it as leverage with the Americans. In other words, brace for an escalation of terrorist violence in Afghanistan. Trump’s repudiation of Islamabad is also likely to push it deeper into the protective embrace of China, drawing the lines for another proxy battle of global superpowers."
Snippets from the Right
Washington Examiner
"If there is a consistent theme to the wars the United States has fought over the last 16 years, it is this: non-nuclear-armed rogue regimes that find themselves in American crosshairs quickly come to an end, but all the president's horses and all the president's men cannot put Humpty back together again.
That is what happened after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It happened after we came, we saw and Moammar Gadhafi died in Libya. And it is what we are still struggling with 16 years after toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan.
This history is undoubtedly what Trump had in mind when he told the American people, 'We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.'
Famous last words."
Snippets from the Center
Al Jazeera
"'We have done a lot towards [achieving peace in Afghanistan] and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy,' Bajwa said on Wednesday, according to a military press release.
The defiant statement marks the first official response from Pakistan's military, which controls the country's security policy and elements of its foreign policy, to US President Donald Trump's Mondayannouncement of a wide-ranging new policy in Afghanistan and South Asia. Trump's singled out Pakistan, saying that the South Asian nuclear power had been duplicitous in its dealings with the US and needed to change its policies.
'We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,' Trump said. 'Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists.'"
