Afghan leader says Trump's war plan has a better chance of success than Obama's

Reuters:
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategy to win the war in Afghanistan will work where his predecessor’s failed because the Afghan army is stronger and Trump wants a regional approach and a harder line with Pakistan.

Ghani also said that former President Barack Obama “did not have a partner in Afghanistan,” implicitly criticizing former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who frequently disdained U.S. policy and the U.S.-led international military force.

“President Trump is not just an individual (but) a team of partners in Afghanistan,” Ghani told the Asia Society in New York, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly. “The Trump administration’s strategy has the uniqueness of immense consultations with us.”

At the same time, Ghani said, Obama’s decision to maintain some U.S. forces in Afghanistan “ensured our survival” despite advances by Taliban insurgents.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday that more than 3,000 additional U.S. troops are being deployed to Afghanistan under the new strategy announced last month. The number of U.S. forces would rise to more than 14,000, compared to a high of more than 100,000 under Obama.
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Asked how Trump’s strategy differs from Obama‘s, Ghani said Trump’s plan takes “a regional approach” to security and a harder line with Pakistan while providing a new opening for peace talks.

“The message to Pakistan to engage and become a responsible stakeholder in the region and in the fight against terrorism has never been clearer,” Ghani said. “What I am offering the Pakistan government, the Pakistan security apparatus, is the invitation to a comprehensive dialogue.”

“If Pakistan does not take this opportunity, I think they will pay a high price,” he said, without elaborating.
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Pakistan continues to tolerate terrorists in their midst.  I suspect it is because they want to use them to offset India's influence in the region and a fear of being outflanked by India.  I think this may just be Pakistan's Muslim paranoia.  I can't imagine that India would want to waste its time trying to tame Pakistan.  But since before the current war began, Pakistan has been playing a double game trying to appease the US and the terrorists at the same time.

Obama's decision to announce the withdrawal of US forces was another one of his grand strategic blunders.  You defeat an enemy by persuading him that his cause is hopeless.  Obama kept finding ways to give the enemy hope that if it just hung on Obama would leave and let them have their way.  It was similar to his retreat from Iraq which led to the growth of ISIS.

It is another example of Obama's narcissism.  He always thinks he is the smartest man in the room regardless of the fact that he had a very limited knowledge of warfare and strategy.

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