Faso says strategic change needed in Afghanistan
U.S. Rep. John Faso said Tuesday that the U.S. needs “to try to see the light at the end of the tunnel” in the long war in Afghanistan and “come to some resolution that will stabilize the situation.”
Faso, R-Kinderhook, said a strategic change is needed because “it’s ... clear that continuing what we’re doing now and what the Afghan government is doing now is not working.”
The congressman also echoed President Donald Trump’s call for “more cooperation from the Pakistanis” in the war-torn region.
Faso spoke a day after Trump delivered a nationally televised address about the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, which began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The congressman said he did not watch Trump’s speech and that briefings he’s received about the situation were not detailed enough for him to comment about specifics.
“I’ve read accounts and I’ve got some material,” Faso said. “I think the strategy is very vague . ...
“I think the vagueness is, in part, because ... some of this is a work in progress,” he said.
Trump’s speech was short on details, but senior U.S. officials said Tuesday said the plan includes sending an additional 3,900 troops to Afghanistan. There currently are 8,400 Americans serving in Afghanistan, down sharply from the 2010-11 peak of 100,000.
Trump did day the U.S. is intent on “killing terrorists” rather than “nation building.”
“It’s very clear that the Taliban have increased their momentum in recent months and the Afghan government has been losing ground,” Faso said Tuesday. “For instance, they control anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the territory of the county, and we’ve also seen substantial bombings and terrorist attacks within Kabul. One most recently killed 150 people . ...
“My view is that we should not allow the Taliban to again gain control over the control and potentially create an opportunity for terrorists to attack us as they did on 9/11, 16 years ago,” Faso said. “The history of Afghanistan is one of many failures of foreign military incursions in that country. They have not all ended well.”