WASHINGTON: United States has started to realise the fact that despitesending more and more forces in Afghanistan it cannot completely defeat oreliminate the Afghan Taliban on their soil.
With the arrival of Donald Trump in White House and the aggressive posturebeing adopted following it, US could not bring the desired results andthere are no signs of Taliban either being defeated or at least brought tothe negotiations from a point of strength.
A senior US official has urged the Taliban to engage in peace talks withthe Afghan government.
“Victory cannot be won on the battlefield — a solution is and must bepolitical,” Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told a high-levelmeeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, reported Voice of America.
“We must recognise the reality that, while the Afghan government has beenadamant on its interest in initiating peace talks with the Taliban, therehas been no reciprocal interest on the part of the Taliban,” Sullivan said.”That must change.”
He said any peace deal must include a firm commitment from the Taliban thatthey will cut ties to terrorism, cease violence and accept the Afghanconstitution.
“To achieve this end, we must work together to isolate the Taliban,eliminate their sources of revenue and equipment, and demonstrate with aunited and unwavering commitment that the only place they can achieve theirobjectives will be at the negotiating table — not on the battlefield,” headded.
In August, US President Donald Trump announced his strategy for ending the16-year war in Afghanistan. He said it would include deploying more UStroops to the country and intensifying pressure on neighbouring Pakistannot to harbour terrorists. He said his policy would not focus onnation-building, but on “killing terrorists.”
Sullivan said there had already been joint US-Afghan progress againstIslamic State terrorists in the eastern part of the country, reducing theirterritory and eliminating a third of the group’s fighters.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai echoed this,saying Afghan Special Forces had carried out more than 2,000 operations inthe past 10 months, causing major losses for militants and foreignterrorist fighters.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced it would suspend $1.9billion in aid to Pakistan until Islamabad took “decisive action” againstthe Afghan Taliban and the Afghan insurgent group known as the Haqqaninetwork.
The funding freeze affects $1 billion for military equipment and another$900 million in payments to defray the cost of counterterrorism operations.
“We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot besuccessful if the status quo, one where terrorist organizations are givensanctuary inside the country’s borders, is allowed to continue,” Sullivantold the council.