WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has informed Congress
that American forces in Afghanistan will continue to fight those who
threaten the viability of the Afghan government.
In a
letter sent this week to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and
President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Mr Trump redefined the US mission
in Afghanistan from grooming Afghan forces to fighting the insurgents
and directly engaging them.
Although training, advising
and assisting Afghan forces is still top on the list of US military
mission in Afghanistan, Mr Trump also underlined other goals some of
which had been abandoned by the Obama administration.
The
goals he underlined are: “Conducting and supporting counterterrorism
operations against Al Qaeda and against ISIS [the militant Islamic State
group]; and taking appropriate measures against those who provide
direct support to Al Qaeda, threaten US and coalition forces, or
threaten the viability of the Afghan government or the ability of the
Afghan National Defence and Security Forces to achieve campaign
success.”
President Trump also informed Congress that US
forces remained in Afghanistan for the “purposes of stopping the
re-emergence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten the
United States, supporting the Afghan government and the Afghan military
as they confront the Taliban in the field, and creating conditions to
support a political process to achieve a lasting peace”.
The president said that these goals were consistent with the strategy he announced on Aug 21,
which seeks to defeat the Taliban in the battlefield to force them work
with the Afghan government for brining peace and stability to the
country.
“The
United States remains in an armed conflict, including in Afghanistan
and against the Taliban, and active hostilities remain ongoing,” Mr
Trump informed the lawmakers in his annual report on deployments of US
armed forces equipped for combat in support of Washington’s
counter-terrorism efforts.
The US media noted that Mr
Trump’s combat advisory represents “a sea change” in the American
approach to the Afghan war since the end of combat operations in 2015.
The
Obama administration, while announcing the end of US military
operations in Afghanistan, also said that Americans forces would now be
largely confined to their bases, training Afghan forces and advising
military leaders.
Under the new policy, the Trump
administration not only decided to send thousands of additional troops
to Afghanistan but also ordered a major expansion of the US war efforts
against the Taliban. The administration also allowed American forces
working directly with Afghan troops in combat to call in airstrikes.
The
new powers permit US forces to conduct bombing raids and artillery fire
for their Afghan partners. Last month, the US Air Force also bombed 25
heroin labs and poppy fields in Taliban-controlled areas.
