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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Trump commits US to open-ended Afghanistan war
US forces leave after a suicide attack followed by a clash between Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters during an attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 31. Photo: AP
NO WAY OUT: Reversing his campaign pledges, Donald Trump gave little specifics on his ‘stepped-up’ military campaign against the Taliban
/ Reuters, WASHINGTON and KABUL
US President Donald Trump committed US troops to an open-ended war in Afghanistan, a decision the Afghan government welcomed, but which Taliban insurgents warned would make the country a “graveyard for the American empire.”
Trump offered few specifics in a speech on Monday, but promised a stepped-up military campaign against the Taliban who have gained ground against US-backed Afghan government forces.
He also singled out Pakistan for harboring militants in safe havens on its soil.
Trump, who had in the past advocated a US withdrawal, said he was going against his instincts in approving the new campaign plan sought by his military advisers, but said he was convinced that leaving posed more risk.
“The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable,” he said. “A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS [Islamic State group] and al-Qaeda, would instantly fill.”
Still, he promised an end to “nation-building” by US forces in what has become the US’ longest war and stressed that ultimately Afghanistan’s struggling police and army must defeat the Taliban.
“The stronger the Afghan security forces become, the less we will have to do. Afghans will secure and build their own nation, and define their own future. We want them to succeed,” he said.
Most of the approximately 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan work with a NATO-led training and advising mission, with the rest part of a counterterrorism force that mostly targets pockets of al-Qaeda and Islamic State group fighters.
While Trump said he would not discuss troop levels or details of the new strategy, US officials said he had signed off on US Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ plans to send about 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
Welcoming the strategy, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said it would increase the capacity of the training mission for Afghan forces, including enhancing its fledgling air force and doubling the size of the Afghan special forces.
“I am grateful to President Trump and the American people for this affirmation of support ... for our joint struggle to rid the region from the threat of terrorism,” Ghani said in a statement.
The Taliban swiftly condemned Trump’s decision to keep US troops in Afghanistan without a withdrawal timetable, vowing to continue “jihad” until all US soldiers were gone.
“If the US does not pull all its forces out of Afghanistan, we will make this country the 21st century graveyard for the American empire,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
Trump, who had criticized his predecessors for setting deadlines for drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, declined to put a timeline on expanded US operations in Afghanistan.
He said that US support “is not a blank check,” and insisted he would not engage in “nation-building,” a practice he has accused his predecessors of doing at huge cost.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
