Game- changer or not? A year of Trump’s Afghan plan

Washington, Aug. 19: A year since President Donald Trump unveiled his strategy for Afghanistan, a fresh wave of violence and bloodshed has assailed the wartorn nation and overshadowed some small glimmers of progress. Each successful attack represents a massive setback not just for the Afghanistan government, which is pushing for peace talks with the Taliban, but also for the Pentagon, where officials insist things are finally improving. In just the last few days, the Taliban and the Islamic State group have unleashed a series of deadly operations where civilians have borne the brunt of the bloodshed, including an ISIS attack inside a school that killed dozens of students. Before that, Taliban militants launched a high- profile attack on the strategic city of Ghazni, forcing US- backed security forces to struggle for days to repel them, and challenging the Pentagon narrative that the Taliban is struggling to effectively target larger cities. Such headlines are surely not what Trump envisioned when on August 21 last year he announced that — despite his instinct to pull out — he was doubling down on the US commitment to Afghanistan and indefinitely prolonging America’s longest war. Fed up with President Barack Obama’s notion that America could somehow pull out of Afghanistan without leaving a security vacuum, military brass welcomed Trump’s decision to deploy thousands of additional US troops, loosen rules of engagement and cancel the promise of a time- tabled withdrawal. “The consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable,” Trump said as he revealed his strategy, which also sought to pressure Pakistan do more to tackle the Taliban. Just months later, the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, claimed the war had “turned the corner” and predicted the Afghan security forces would expand government control of the population from about 64 per cent now to 80 per cent over two years.