Why Pakistan is an enemy of the US

The Pakistani government has been an enemy of the United States.

Nuclear armed, the Pakistani government gives regular funding and sanctuary to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. Osama Bin Laden himself was found in Pakistan.

Pakistan is the reason why the Afghan War has dragged on for so long. Terrified of an independent Afghanistan, Pakistan has been continually funding the Taliban, because so long as Afghanistan is a weak nation, Pakistan is strong and India can be held at bay.

Indian dominance terrifies Pakistan more than anything else. But the US is getting tired of Pakistan playing a double-game and, under Trump, expect US-Indian-Afghani relations to improve.

So long as the Pakistan problem is not dealt with, the Afghan war will never end. The only way to end the Afghan War is to step up Afghani-Pakistani border control between to prevent any members of the Taliban from getting into or out of either country.

Immense pressure needs to be applied on Pakistan to force it to sever ties with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Russia, for example, already showed how to do this with Turkey: in Syria, Russian air power dominated the Turkish-backed rebels and forced them to retreat on almost every front. Turkey then shot down a Russian jet and in response Russia escalated its campaign against the rebels and severed all ties with Turkey. Turkey then repaired ties with both Russia and the Assad Government when it realised its previous foreign policy had completely failed and it was at risk at losing even more outright with the Kurds on its border.

Pakistan needs America much more than America needs Pakistan. Should America move to annihilate the Taliban, increase Afghani-Pakistani border security and increase US-Indian-Afghani ties, Pakistan will come to the negotiating table and even sever ties with the Taliban. But it will only do so if the US shows military might and crushes Pakistani proxies completely.

This is why it seems Trump's regional approach to Afghanistan may succeed where Obama's and Bush's did not. Trump may win the Afghan war by forcing Pakistan to stop acting as an enemy of the US.

Trump reaffirms support to Afghanistan

For more information, see the link below:

http://www.khaama.com/trump-speaks-with-president-ghani-after-deadly-kabul-explosion-02839



In the wake of the ISIS terror attack on Kabul which left 80 people dead, Trump has rung Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and reaffirmed US support of the government and the commitment to ending terrorism there.

Trump ran an historic Presidential campaign, in which his slogan was often "America First." There are those who are wondering how getting tangled back in the Afghan quagmire benefits the US and whether Trump should just withdraw from the country altogether.

I say no. I would be glad for Trump to stay in Afghanistan, the reason being that military resources tied up in both Afghanistan and Iraq are less spared for other military temptations, such as in Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya or North Korea. Trump starting new wars while withdrawing from old ones, as Obama did, would be a very dark and foolish idea.

Better would be for Trump to pass up on newer military opportunities (such as temptations in Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya or North Korea) in favour of winning the old ones. One of the things Trump spoke of on the campaign trail was "winning" and "winning big." It would, therefore, stick with Trump's campaign rhetoric if he stayed in Afghanistan to win the war by rapidly changing the conditions upon which said war is played on.

The Trump Administration has been all too willing to do that. In the last 6 months, the Afghan question has been carefully studied and pondered in the hope of finding a way to win the war there. While rapidly defeating ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Trump has taken his time regarding Afghanistan to make sure nothing rash is done there.

Not only has there been careful and deliberate thinking about the Afghan question - Pakistan has been sharply slapped on the wrist for supporting the Taliban. They have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the US - more recently, in his historic counter-terrorism speech in Saudi Arabia, Trump did not even mention Pakistan as a partner. The Trump Administration has been clearly sending signals to Pakistan that, should they remain in implicit support of the Taliban, they would lose the US as a close ally.

This reaffirmation of support for the Afghan government does not suggest a neo-con change in Trump - rather, it represents an entirely different policy to Obama: seeking to win old wars, not start new ones.