KABUL – US President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union addressin Washington DC on Tuesday and said US forces and their Afghancounterparts will engage in the war in the country with new rules andregulations.
Trump delivered his State of the Union address in Washington DC on Tuesdayand said he had signed an executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison inCuba open.
This decision is a reversal of his predecessor president Barack Obama’spolicy.
“Today I’m keeping another promise. I just signed an order directingSecretary (James) Mattis… to reexamine our military detention policy andto keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said in hisspeech.
“I am also asking the Congress to ensure that, in the fight against ISIS(Daesh) and al-Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detainterrorists – wherever we chase them down.”
“Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil.When possible, we annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able todetain and question them. But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merelycriminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas,they should be treated like the terrorists they are.”
Trump said: “In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds of dangerousterrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield – including the ISIS(Daesh) leader, al-Baghdadi.”
He said the US troops in Afghanistan also have new rules of engagement.“Along with their heroic Afghan partners, our military is no longerundermined by artificial timelines, and we no longer tell our enemies ourplans,” he said.
Trump did not however mention Pakistan in his speech despite the Trumpadministration announcing earlier this month that it would withhold $255million USD in aid to Pakistan, based on the perception that the countrywas harboring terrorists.
Under former president George W. Bush, the US military hastily constructeda prison camp on Guantanamo Bay, located on the US naval base on theeastern tip of Cuba, in the months following the US-led invasion ofAfghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
At first, inmates were held in cages and fenced in with razor wire, andconditions for them provoked a global outcry in 2002.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has said that governmentwill take revenge from insurgents for the recent attacks – which killedclose to 150 dead and hundreds more wounded.
“This kind of killing is against Islamic principles and humanity and Afghanculture. Revenge is the order of Allah and we will take revenge,” saidGhani on Tuesday.
Ghani’s statement on avenging the deaths apparently includes the executionof terrorists in the custody of the Afghan government.
“The issue of execution is on the table, undoubtedly, our security forceswill also take revenge for our people against the terrorists,” said JawedFaisal, deputy CEO spokesman.
“The law must be implemented and those who committed bad deeds must beserved severe punishments,” said military analyst Mia Gul Wasiq.
It is believed that the cases of over 600 terrorists, including those ondeath row, are on the president’s desk at the moment.
Sources in the presidential palace has confirmed that government isplanning to executive a number of insurgents in its custody. However thesesources are not giving details about the exact numbers.