Trump throws Kabul, New Delhi under the bus with Afghan withdrawal move
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is ordering an American drawdown in Afghanistan, bringing home some 50 per cent of the 15,000 US troops over the next two months. The move will effectively throw the Afghan government under the bus, and beyond that, endanger Indian presence, investment, and stakes in the country, since it is expected to open the floodgates for the return of Taliban and other Pakistani terrorist proxies.
Trump’s decision to start withdrawing from Afghanistan, which even some American experts described as a defeat, comes on the heels of a similar departure from Syria he announced abruptly over Twitter + on Tuesday. The twin disengagements, which are in keeping with the non-interventionist outlook he often expressed during his Presidential campaign and after, led to the resignation on Thursday of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Trump falsely tweeted that Mattis was “retiring,” but the General, who was sometimes referred to as the only adult in cabinet who could counsel the mercurial President, sent a resignation letter that laid bare their differences, including the broader issue of treatment of allies and the real threats to the United States.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues,” Mattis wrote. “We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances,” he added, clearly implying Trump was not doing it.
“Because you have the right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” the departing Defense Secretary, who met his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman four times this year for talks, said.
The US President remained unconcerned even as the foreign policy and strategic establishments had a meltdown in the hours after announcement, as he battled to secure funding for a border wall from the Congress in the face of a looming government shutdown, engendering jokes that the greatest military in the world was good for only tackling refugees and asylum-seekers.
“Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & other are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing [their] work. Time to come home & rebuild,” he explained over Twitter, as he was excoriated by even Republican lawmakers and many conservative talking heads, save a few isolationists.
