The new US strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia not only has failed to improve the stability and security of Afghanistan, but also aggravated the security situation, say military experts and members of Wolesi Jirga, describing it worse compared to that of former President Barack Obama.
According to them, the time has come for the United States to revisit its Afghan strategy and pursue the political settlement of Afghan conflict, because it cannot accomplish the goal through the use of force. This comes as the National Unity Government had lauded the new US strategy even before it was unveiled, and continues to commend it in different gatherings. Characterizing Trump’s strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia as largely ambiguous, Gen. Atiqullah Amarkhail, a military expert, told The Heart of Asia: “I think Afghan government may still be blissfully ignorant of all the details of the strategy, as well as its pros and cons to Afghanistan.” Amarkhail asserts that ramping up military pressure on Taliban and other terror groups to drag them to the negotiating table by weakening them on the battlefield was a central part of the new policy, but it has backfired, with insurgents becoming ever stronger, and even being able to storm provincial centers such as the city of western Farah province.
Another key element of the strategy was that the United States will not set a timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a shift that, according to him, reinforced the pretext of militants to prolong the war.
Ramazan Bashardost, a member of Wolesi Jirga, stresses that the past couple of months show that President Donald Trump’s strategy for Afghanistan has failed, fueling insecurity across the country. “With several months passed since its announcement, the strategy should have yielded some results. But no one can bring an example of what it has achieved, so that is why it is unsuccessful,”
Bashardost told The Heart of Asia. America’s indifference towards the recent wave of security incidents, fall of districts and provincial centers, massive explosions, and the gains made by rebels as Bashardost puts it, the consequences of the new American strategy Afghan people are suffering. Claiming that Afghan government now doesn’t have an answer to the nation because it blindly welcomed the strategy, says Yameen Barakzai, a political expert, adding that Americans and other foreigners are now just watching the game, and have no sense of respons.........
>>> read full article @ HeartOfAsia.af
According to them, the time has come for the United States to revisit its Afghan strategy and pursue the political settlement of Afghan conflict, because it cannot accomplish the goal through the use of force. This comes as the National Unity Government had lauded the new US strategy even before it was unveiled, and continues to commend it in different gatherings. Characterizing Trump’s strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia as largely ambiguous, Gen. Atiqullah Amarkhail, a military expert, told The Heart of Asia: “I think Afghan government may still be blissfully ignorant of all the details of the strategy, as well as its pros and cons to Afghanistan.” Amarkhail asserts that ramping up military pressure on Taliban and other terror groups to drag them to the negotiating table by weakening them on the battlefield was a central part of the new policy, but it has backfired, with insurgents becoming ever stronger, and even being able to storm provincial centers such as the city of western Farah province. Another key element of the strategy was that the United States will not set a timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, a shift that, according to him, reinforced the pretext of militants to prolong the war.