US President Donald Trump is doubling down on Afghanistan, despite his own admitted instinct to withdraw from America's longest war.
"We will fight to win," he said in a speech at Fort Myers in Arlington, Virginia, taking a strident tone and indicating the US would expand its presence in Afghanistan but offering few specific details on how it would do so.
"America's enemies must never know our plans, or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will," said Trump, before a crowd of US troops.
While he admitted he previously favored withdrawal, Trump said doing so would dishonor the US troops who died in Afghanistan and could create a vacuum that would allow terrorist networks to expand.
Harsh words for Pakistan NOT India
In setting out what he described as a new approach to the 16-year campaign, Trump had harsh words for US ally Pakistan, saying Washington could "no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations."
"We appreciate India's important contributions to stability in Afghanistan but India makes billions of dollars in trade from the United States and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development." -Trump
FIVE KEY PIECES OF TRUMP'S AFGHANISTAN PLAN
Pentagon given authority to ramp up troop levels, but US military will not talk specific numbers Military given greater autonomy to attack Taliban and other groupsEnd goal is to find a political solution to the Afghan war, maybe involving TalibanTrump called on Pakistan to stop providing a safe-haven for terroristsUS wants to win in Afghanistan, but not interested in nation building
"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars, at the same time, they are housing the very terrorists we are fighting ... that must change immediately," Trump added.
He also called on Pakistan's regional rival India, to "help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistant and development."
"We appreciate India's important contributions to stability in Afghanistan but India makes billions of dollars in trade from the United States and we want them to help us more with Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development."
In response to Trump's pledge, the Taliban issued a defiant statement, saying the US should have thought about withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan instead of prolonging the war.
‘War on terror’ has cost Pakistan $ 118bn
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its annual report on Thursday showed that extremist violence cost the country $118.3bn in direct and indirect losses from 2002 to 2016.
“Both economic growth and social sector development have been severely hampered by terrorism-related incidents,” the report said.
Pakistan became a pivotal US ally in the battle against extremism after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks spurred the US invasion of Afghanistan.
A Coalition Support Fund was approved by the US to support Pakistan in the war, with an annual release of around $1bn since 2002. By last year Pakistan had received a total of $14bn but it spent a total of $118bn
The SBP said that apart from causing immeasurable human suffering, including casualties and mass displacement, the war had helped drive away foreign investment, stall domestic investment, freeze exports, and slow down trade.
US-led War on Terror (US has Killed over 1.3 million civilians)
At least 80,000 Pakistanis have been killed in the US-led War on Terror, a study conducted by a group of international physicians’ organisations revealed.
The study concluded that around 1.3 million people were killed, both directly and indirectly, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as a result of US-led wars in the region in more than a decade.
The investigation scoured the results of individual studies and data published by United Nations organisations, government agencies and non-governmental organisations. It added that one million people were killed in Iraq and 220,000 in Afghanistan as a result of the war.
“The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware,” the study’s authors write. “And this is only a conservative estimate. The total number of deaths in the three countries… could also be in excess of 2 million.”
Conclusion
Pakistan has spent Billions and Billion (Total of $118bn) during ‘War on terror’‘ and has killed over 1,865 terrorists killed and arrested over 5,000. Pakistan should be appreciated for its important contributions to stability in Afghanistan instead of being criticized and falsely accused for helping terrorists.
