REUTERS/Parwiz/File Photo
The Trump administration is going to withdraw the American-backed Afghan troops from sparsely populated areas of Afghanistan, anonymous officers mentioned, ensuring that the Taliban will be in control of huge stretches of the country, the NYT reports.
The plan will be implemented due to the fact that the American-installed government in Afghanistan is still unable to lead and protect the country’s sprawling rural population. The retreat to the cities is an acknowledgement of the inefficiency of Ashraf Ghani cabinet.
The approach, as reported by the NYT, was outlined in a previously undisclosed part of the war strategy that Donald Trump announced in August 2017. It is meant to protect military forces from attacks at isolated and vulnerable outposts, and focuses on protecting cities such as Kabul, the capital and other population centers.
The withdrawal resembles strategies of the Bush and Obama administrations that have started during the 17-year war. This strategy will effectively ensure that the Taliban will hold to territory they have already seized. The same goes for regions under ISIS control, who the Taliban actively fight. With the government’s focus shifting to defending Kabul and large cities such as Kandahar, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad.
However, the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD), as reported by NYT, claims that troops will leave unpopulated areas that do not require military presence and they will have presence in other parts. Muhammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman of MoD said “We will replace our troops from unnecessary areas,” as reported by ATN news.
NYT quoted Atiqullah Amar Khail, a former military officer said, “They want to make the Afghanistan geography more limited and enhance the activity areas of the enemies. We had an experience in Helmand province. When they removed all checkpoints, since then Taliban controls all districts of Helmand.”
Prior to this, the Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) claimed that of the 407 districts, the Afghan government had control of 229, whereas 59 were under Taliban control and the 119 remaining districts are being fought over by the two sides.
This contradicts Donald Trump’s statements heavily. In August 2017, Donald Trump outlined his plan for the US war in Afghanistan, vowing that the war would soon be won. Following that, on January 29th, at a lunch with representatives of the UN Security, Radio Free Europe reported, Trump rejected the possibility of negotiations with the Taliban anytime soon, following a series of deadly attacks in Afghanistan.
On July 9th, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Trump administration’s strategy to pacify the country and support the growth of its Democratic institutions is “working,” despite the seemingly intractable problem of the Taliban’s continued control over large swaths of territory. He also further mentioned that Trump’s refusal to negotiate was proved false. He was quoted as saying: “We are prepared to participate and facilitate, to help the Afghan people resolve their differences and to provide a place where all of the Afghan people can have their voices heard.”
Since then rumors have been circulating that the US is open to talks with the Taliban, which has not yet been confirmed. However, an anonymous Taliban representative claimed that the movement has held its first direct contact with Alice Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Qatar. She did, in fact visit Doha, Qatar, however, the US Embassy in Qatar said in a statement that Ms Wells had been in Doha, had met with the ruling family and “the United States is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan Government”.
The situation in Afghanistan does not appear to be under control, as apparent from the recent developments. Over the years, the government has slowly retrenched and surrendered parts of territory to the Taliban.
In a way its sad, because the Taliban are no better then the various headchoppers that infest Syria.
Extreme implementation of sharia law? Check!
Gruesome public executions? Check!
Treating women as cattle? Check!
Destruction and erasure of any non-Islamic cultures? Check!
Complete totalitarian control over the way ordinary people live and think under its control? Check!
Turning the country they control into a generally backward hellish shithole? Check!
The only difference is that in Syria the headchoppers serve a useful purpose to the West and in Afghanistan they don’t. Otherwise, headchoppers all of them!
And yet the fact that they’re defeating the Americans and disrupting their plans somehow fills me with this strange tingling sensation. I could almost describe it as……, dare I say it? Glee?
There is no denying that the Taliban are barbarians, but they are fighting barbarians(USA).
Every dollar the US spends in Afghanistan, is a life saved somewhere else, and speeds the defeat of the USA by the free world.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Remember US created them to attack a Socialist goverment in Afganastain that was bringing in modern values and womens rights also.
US Checklist.
Extreme implementation of Zionist laws? Check
Gruesome limited public prison executions? Check
Treating women as sex objects? Check
Complete mind control over the way ordinary people live and think under its control? Check.
Turning the country they control into a generally backward and boorish utopia?
Check.
The only difference is that in America the morons serve a useful purpose to the Military Industrial Complex and in the Free World they don’t. Otherwise, Zionist Baby Killers, all of them!
The only difference is that in Syria the US Military serve a useful purpose to Israel and in their home bases they don’t. Otherwise, thugs with guns all of them!
Hate Israel and want to liberate Palestine ?…. Check !!!
Muslim patriots kicking U.S., British, French/NATO ass ? ……Check !!
There will be no American victory in Afghanistan, America will die in Afghanistan.
I look forward to the demise of US power.
This conflict appears to be going the same way as the Vietnam war and I fully expect the US troops to be withdrawn as their casualties rise.
Hiding in cities has never been a good strategy for any conventional army as the fighting is more close up and personal .
The US military has always achieved more by staying outside cities and then destroying the cities with airpower and artillery and then claiming victory as they did in Raqqa.
Driving around in armoured vehicles and shelling from far away though is futile. IF the US wishes to have a chance of ‘winning ‘ in Afghanistan the US military will need to be willing to accept casualties by having boots on the ground. Without boots on the ground all wars are lost unless one is willing to kill everyone with WMD’s
Don’t forget that the Taliban are by far majority Pashtun. And the Pashtun’s are the largest tribal society in the world, with 30+ million members. They span from Afghanistan to north-western Pakistan, and don’t really acknowledge the national border.
That means that the Taliban have essentially and endless pool of reserves and volunteers to get a hold of. This does not bode well for the enemy of the Taliban.
The war is lost. And the propped up government is a sham, corruption and ineptitude and other vices. They are being propped up at the barrel of a U.S. gun. But sooner rather than later, the damn will break, and it will be a rout for the government in Kabul, and U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan. If Iran wanted to start trouble, they could easily weaponize the Taliban with missiles, ATGM, and other lethal weapons. Since the White House wants to support an organization deemed by Tehran to be a terror organization, it would be tit-for-tat. Russia could start secretly arming the Taliban so they could destroy ISIS which has been relocated from Iraq-Syria to Afghanistan, largely with U.S., British and French, Italian help.
The idea the CIA, Mi6, Mossad have is to spread radical extremist Islam, Salafist’s or Wahabi’s , who would mount internal disruptions in the southern ‘ Stan’s ‘ countries on Russia’s underbelly. They tried it twice in Chechnya, but failed. This plot is also supposed to consume China in a vicious internal problem in China’s north-west, the Uighurs.
So the Chinese might want to conveniently get cheap, effective, lethal weapons to the Taliban to eradicate the ISIS formations developing in the country of Afghanistan.
Then you have India, which is acting in a clandestine way to undermine Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan. Even speaking of sending Indian troops. Pakistan will maintain optimal relations with both the propped up government, and the Taliban, which they see as a buffer from U.S., British, French resource theft and subversion of Afghanistan.
Alexander The Great came across the Afghan people along his conquests, but wanted nothing to do with them, for they are true warriors, and he simply went around them.
It will be fascinating to see the policy changes in Pakistan after the recent elections there.
It is a good omen that the Zionist squatters on Palestinian lands are not happy campers about the election result :)
Recently, India has given Israel launch pads on its territory for Israel to use in case it wanted to take out Pakistans nuclear option off the table. They don’t like the fact an Islamic country has a nuclear arsenal. Imagine how the Pakistani’s feel about the Zionists after this. And the right wing nationalistic Hindus are no better than their cousins the Zionists. Both occupy other peoples land at the point of guns and military occupations. Israel in Palestine, India in Kashmir. Both racist ideologies and people.
The Bonespurs Plan.
This withdrawal will allow Daesh to spread more freely, and as they are a Western spy agencies’ proxy force, the plan seems to be to hope for a Daesh victory over Taliban.
Good riddance! May this country finally prosper as she is moving away from the past of being on forefront of imperialistic warfare and great power struggle for centuries.
The Trumo biggest liar all around the world ! He quicker talking than thinking ! The Big mouth !
USA and NATO forget one fact , that both one time must gone from Afgan , but Taliban stay there for ever !