Donald Trump warns against hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan

US President Donald Trump has revealed a new strategy for Afghanistan that commits to maintaining US forces in the war-torn country while increases pressure on Pakistan to crack down on havens used by terrorists, The Financial reports. 

In a prime-time speech on Monday night, Mr Trump said his instinct had been to withdraw from Afghanistan, but that he changed his mind because of concerns about creating a vacuum for terrorists. But he stressed that US support was not a “blank cheque” and that Americans were “weary of war without victory”. “A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists — including Isis and al-Qaeda — would instantly fill, just as happened before September 11,” Mr Trump said at Fort Myers outside Washington. 

Explaining his reversal, Mr Trump said Isis had emerged because the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011 and that America “cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq”. 

He did not say whether he would deploy additional forces to bolster the 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan, but stressed that he would give the military the flexibility to produce an outcome “worthy of the tremendous sacrifices” made in Afghanistan. 

In June, Mr Trump gave James Mattis, defence secretary, the authority to deploy several thousand more troops in Afghanistan, but Mr Mattis wanted to hold off on any decision until the administration had agreed on a strategy. 

“We will not talk about numbers of troops or our plans for further military activities. Conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy,” Mr Trump said. “America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will,'' - The Financial says.