On Wednesday, President Trump made a pertinent point. He said, what no president had said earlier. He rued the fact, that the fight against the terrorists is being done only by the United States, which is almost 7000 miles away. This news was reported by News18.
He further went on to add that countries closer to Afghanistan are making much fewer efforts to fight terrorists in Afghanistan. Trump was addressing reporters at the White House and his response was to a question on the reemergence of the ISIS in Afghanistan.
Donald Trump
These comments of Trump came a day after he had stated that the US would not completely withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and America would keep "somebody there" to ensure that the Taliban does not regain control.
This was a forthright comment and aptly summed up the US approach to the Afghan problem. Negotiations are on with the Taliban which has been demanding a complete pullout of all American troops from Afghanistan.
Trump is a man of action and he went on to say something that will not be liked by India and Pakistan, the two immediate neighbors of Afghanistan. Trump stated that the US was fighting terrorists though it was 7000 miles away from Afghanistan, but India which is right there is not fighting. He further added that Pakistan is "right next door" but they are fighting the terrorists "very little." NDTV has reported that the president summed up by stating "it's not fair."
Indian stake and Pakistan duplicity
The fact is that India has a big stake in Afghanistan and giving millions of dollars in aid to the Afghani government as it does not want the Taliban to make a comeback.
There are however no boots on the ground and not a single Indian soldier is committed in Afganistan to fight the terror groups. Pakistan has been playing a dubious game though it's the immediate neighbor of Afganistan. It is supporting one faction of the Taliban which is battling the US army and the government in Kabul. It wants a Taliban government in Kabul as a sort of insurance against its enemy India.
Donald Trump, who a few weeks back aborted an attack on Iran at the last moment is the first president who saw through the duplicity of Pakistan and castigated the Pakistan government. The new premier Imran Khan is trying to reset his relations with the US but it has not taken an active stand against terror groups including the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Trump further added that at some stage these countries including Russia, Turkey, and Iran will have to fight the Islamic terrorists as the USA cannot bear the burden of fighting them forever.
Islamic militants
Trump also made a pertinent point about captured Islamic militants. He said the US has thousands of them in their custody and he would release them to go back to their countries, mostly France and Germany, as the US was not going to feed them for the next 50 years in Guantanamo.
