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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2017 8 News Trump to expand US military intervention in Afghanistan DONALD Trump has an- nounced he will prolong the US military intervention in Afghanistan, which he once described as a "complete waste", bowing to advice from his top officials to raise the stakes once more in the 16-year conflict. In a televised address to troops at Fort Myer in Vir- ginia, Trump said he was set- ting out a new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia. But he did not say how many more troops he would send, how long they would stay, or what their ultimate objective was. The president declared there would be more onus on the Afghan government to perform better, in civilian and military terms, and on the Pakistani government to cut support for militants who find a haven along the Afghan border. Trump warned that Islamabad would have "much to lose" if it did not comply. Trump repeatedly presented his ideas for South Asia as a radical departure from the Obama administration, with a tighter focus on counter- terrorism. "We are not nation build- ing again. We are killing ter- rorists," he said. But the Fort Myer speech suggested that the tasks facing US soldiers and diplomats in the region would remain the same, at- tacking terrorist groups while trying to bolster the Afghan government's own forces and attempting to put pressure on Kabul and Islamabad to help more. In his address, Trump made a virtue of avoiding details, saying he would not repeat what he presented as the Obama administration's mis- take of signalling plans to the nation's enemies. Instead, key decisions would be taken by military commanders and determined by "conditions on the ground and not arbitrary timetables". However, the Trump White House has already given the Pentagon authority to deploy another 4,000 more troops to bolster the 8,400 there already and vice-president Mike Pence was reported to have told Congress that 3,900 extra soldiers would be sent. In a separate statement, the defence secretary, James Mattis said he had ordered US military chiefs to "make preparations to carry out the president's strategy" and that he would be talking to Nato allies, "several of which have also committed to increasing their troop numbers." "Together, we will assist the Afghan Security forces to de- stroy the terrorist hub," Mat- tis said. Sir Michael Fallon, the Brit- ish defence secretary, wel- comed the US commitment. "In my call with Secretary Mattis yesterday we agreed that despite the challenges, we have to stay the course in Afghanistan to help build up its fragile democracy and reduce the terrorist threat to the West," he said on Tuesday. The UK was involved in the Afghan conflict for 13 years, from 2001 to 2014. The last UK combat troops left Af- ghanistan in October 2014, but there are currently 500 British troops still based in the country, providing secu- rity in Kabul and training at the Afghan Officer Academy. Britain has already offered to deploy another 85 troops by November at the request of Nato, which altogether has 13,000 troops in Afghanistan. "It's in all our interests that Afghanistan becomes more prosperous and safer: that's why we announced our own troop increase back in June," Fallon said. In another coordinated statement on Monday, the secretary of state, Rex Tiller- son, said the Trump admin- istration was making clear to the Taliban that they "will not win on the battlefield", and that the US was ready to sup- port peace talks between Ka- bul and the Taliban 'without preconditions". This, too, was the Obama administration's policy. The president admitted that escalating the US war in Af- ghanistan had not been his initial instinct when he came to office. Trump scarcely mentioned Afghanistan dur- ing last year's election cam- paign, but prior to entering the presidential race, he had vociferously argued for with- drawal. So had his former chief strategist, Stephen Ban- non, who was fired on Friday after a fierce struggle in a di- vided White House. "My original instinct was to pull out, and historically I like following my instincts, but all of my life I heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office," Trump said. He gave three reasons for continuing the US involve- ment in the Afghan war on the side of the Kabul govern- ment against the Taliban: to honour those American soldiers who had died there since 2001, to stop Afghani- stan becoming a haven for terrorists once more and to help stabilise the South Asia region. "Our nation must seek an honourable and enduring outcome worthy of the tre- mendous sacrifices that have been made," Trump said. "The consequences of a rap- id exit are both predictable and unacceptable," he added. "A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terror- ists – including Isis and al- Qaida – would instantly fill, just as happened before Sep- tember 11." "Thirdly and finally, I con- cluded that the security threats we face in Afghani- stan and the broader region are immense," he said. In practice, and as Trump conceded in his speech, much of the US effort will be dedi- cated to continuing to build up the Afghan security forces until they are able to fight the Taliban alone. The Obama administration had the same goal, and it remains a distant one. The other break with the past is a tougher line against the Pakistani government. Groups like the Haqqani net- work, which is both terrorist and criminal, have long been based in tribal lands in west- ern Pakistan. Persuading the Pakistani security services to cut them off was an objec- tive of both the Bush and the Obama administrations, that was never achieved. Trump claimed he would succeed by being tougher on Islamabad. "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 re- gion and beyond," Trump said. "Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continu- ing to harbor terrorists." "Terrorists who slaughter innocent people will find no glory in this life or the next. They are nothing but thugs, and criminals, and predators, and – that's right – losers." The Afghan government would also come under more pressure to reform its mili- tary and its corruption-rife bureaucracy. "Our support is not a blank cheque," Trump said. "Our patience is not unlimited. We will keep our eyes wide open." Efforts by previous admin- istrations to pressure Kabul and Islamabad foundered on Washington's need for both governments to survive and to continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorist groups. That limited US lev- erage. It was not immediately clear from President Trump's speech how he proposed to resolve that longstanding quandary. As part of a regional ap- proach, Trump said he would encourage India to play more of a role. However, he did not mention another, increas- ingly important player in Af- ghanistan, China. Former officials and ana- lysts also pointed out that the fear of a greater Indian presence in Afghanistan was the justification used by Pa- kistan's military and intel- ligence leaders to maintain backing for Afghan militants, as a buffer against Indian in- fluence. Josh Rovner, associate pro- fessor at the School of Inter- national Service at American University described the in- vitation to India to get more involved as "puzzling", argu- ing it "may encourage Paki- stan to invest more in armed groups." Barnett Rubin, a senior ad- visor on Afghanistan and Pa- kistan in the Obama admin- istration called the speech: "An incoherent wish list un- moored in political reality or principle." Trump made one glaring factual error in the speech, referring to the Afghan lead- er, Ashraf Ghani, as prime minister, rather than presi- dent. Rubin, now a senior fel- low at New York University's Centre on International Co- operation, argued the gaffe disproved Trump's claim to have studied the prob- lem deeply and showed "no understanding of the ba- sis of the National Unity Government." President Trump announcing a new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia More troops are to be deployed to Afghanistan