NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump has said his administration hadaccelerated negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistanwith groups, including the Taliban, and, as they make progress, would beable to reduce the American troop presence there.”In Afghanistan, my administration is holding constructive talks with anumber of Afghan groups, including the Taliban,” Trump said during hisState of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night. “As we makeprogress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our trooppresence and focus on counterterrorism.”“We do not know whether we willachieve an agreement,” Trump said. “But we do know that after two decadesof war, the hour has come to at least try for peace.”And then, he added,“We will indeed focus on counterterrorism.” Trump made the comments whiledefending his plans for Afghanistan and Syria, which have met push backfrom Congress and the foreign policy establishment.“As a candidate for president, I pledged a new approach. Great nations donot fight endless wars,” he said, to some applause in the chamber.InDecember, Trump announced he would withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops fromSyria, a decision that precipitated the resignation of James Mattis asDefence secretary and which was derided by lawmakers in both parties aspremature.Earlier on Tuesday, Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. commander inthe Middle East, said Trump made the announcement without consulting him.The Senate also Tuesday afternoon approved77-23 a bill that warns against a “precipitous” withdrawal in Syria andAfghanistan.Trump also declared victory against the Islamic State in Iraqand Syria (ISIS) when he said in December that troops would be withdrawnfrom Syria.But on Tuesday night, he shifted a bit, stating that “virtually”all territory has been retaken from ISIS.“Now, as we work with our alliesto destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors inSyria a warm welcome home,” he said.In Afghanistan, reports late last yearsaid Trump was planning to halve the 14,000 U.S. troops there.
But no official announcement of a drawdown has come.Zalmay Khalilzad, theTrump administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, lastweek told The New York Times that talks with the Taliban in Qatar yielded apreliminary framework for a peace agreement.Khalilzad has stressed thatthere remains much work before a final agreement. But in general, theTaliban would agree under the proposed deal to not allow Afghanistan to beused by terrorists to plot attacks, which would allow the United States towithdraw from the country after the longest war in U.S. history..”Other parts of the president’s speech enjoyed much less of a consensuspositive reaction from the lawmakers in the chamber.Trump vowed to build a wall along the border with Mexico aimed at stoppingillegal migration that is a source of a deep partisan divide, and saidDemocratic attempts at “ridiculous partisan investigations” could damageU.S. prosperity.He called illegal immigration “an urgent national crisis,” but stoppedshort of declaring a border emergency that would allow him to bypassCongress for wall funding. Instead, he urged Democrats and Republicans tofind a compromise by the February 15 deadline.
During his speech, Trump announced the date and venue of his upcomingmeeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He’s set to meet with Kim inVietnam on February 27 and 28.”As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peaceon the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing hasstopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months,” Trump said.”If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would rightnow, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentiallymillions of people killed,” Trump added. “Much work remains to be done, butmy relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one.”Trump also expressed America’s solidarity with those opposing thesocialist, authoritarian government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.”We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — andwe condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policieshave turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into astate of abject poverty and despair,” Trump said.
Read Top Stories
Meanwhile, Trump defended his administration’s decision to withdraw the USfrom a landmark Reagan-era nuclear treaty with Russia.”Decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in whichwe agreed to limit and reduce our missile capabilities,” Trump said. “Whilewe followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated itsterms. That is why I announced that the United States is officiallywithdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INFTreaty.”Trump said that perhaps a new deal could be negotiated in the future.The speech, which was delayed several weeks by the 35-day governmentshutdown, clocked in as the second-longest State of the Union in history,and the longest since President Bill Clinton’s speech in 2000. – APP/AFP
