The president told America that he’s changed his mind. Against his initial reluctance, he is sending troops into Afghanistan after all.
Favoring, as always, the element of surprise, he declined to say who, what, where or when.
“The enemy must never know our plans,” the president remarked in a Monday night message carried over all the networks…and in distinguishing Trump’s Way from previous administrations when the enemy were alerted in advance to the number of soldiers going in and coming out.
In another departure from the past, Trump announced that the United States is not interested in nation building.
“We’re killing terrorists,” he said bluntly.
The objective, he said, is “to win”…another point of departure from his predecessors.
He made sure to remind Afghan leaders that it is still their country, their fight. In another first, he called out Pakistan to quit harboring terrorists and to join up as partners and to put up or shut up in the war against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS. There is a new sheriff in town and his name is Donald Trump.
So here we have it, Trump’s Way.
But in Afghanistan he faces a quagmire that tested all others who tried but failed…a situation, Trump noted ruefully, that he “inherited.” Yet no end in sight. The figures are startling. Since 2001, the United States has poured in $714 Billion to pacify a country where clearly it’s civil war between Muslims…and where it falls to us to come to the rescue and keep them apart.
More than 2,000 American soldiers have died, more than 20,000 wounded. Still nothing seems to work.
For Trump, this is his second big test so far as war over the horizon.
For Trump, this is his second big test so far as war over the horizon. In the first instance, it worked, we won, specifically North Korea. When Kim Jong-un began saber-rattling, threatening us with nukes, Trump answered right back with harsh language of his own - “fire and fury”…”locked and ready.”
Trump’s critics said he was wrong to speak so loudly. Trump turned out to be right. Kim backed down.
Meantime, as if to prove that some things never change, Jared Kushner is off on a fool’s errand, again, the adventure known as the Middle East Peace Process. Yet no one has ever explained how the “Palestinian cause” is of any vital interest to the security of the United States of America.
As we noted earlier, the Palestinian Arab conflict against Israel is a sideshow. Yet the beat goes on because the Israelis are always willing to play – and Jerusalem is a beautiful place to take vacation upon the pretext of diplomacy. Diplomats have to do something to prove their worth and Israel is marvelously hospitable.
Not so North Korea or Afghanistan. Those are the true hot spots.
Here’s Trump from Monday night:
“I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader region are immense. Today, 20 U.S. designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the highest concentration in any region anywhere in the world.”
Exactly, Mr. President…so maybe it’s time to focus Jared and his team on the real troubles we face. Leave Israel alone.
Any Middle East peace process only begins and ends with one result – pressuring Israel to give up more and more of its sovereign territory.
More from Trump: “For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror. The threat is worse because Pakistan and India are two nuclear-armed states whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict. And that could happen.”
Precisely. Thank goodness someone gets it.
More Trump: “No one denies that we have inherited a challenging and troubling situation in Afghanistan and South Asia. But we do not have the luxury of going back in time and making different or better decisions. When I became president, I was given a bad and very complex hand. But I fully knew what I was getting into, big and intricate problems.”
Finally, putting the heat where it belongs…and “killing terrorists” is what we do to keep America safe, and what Israel does to keep Israel safe.
New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva. Engelhard wrote the international bestseller “Indecent Proposal” and the ground-breaking inside-journalism thriller “The Bathsheba Deadline.” His latest is “News Anchor Sweetheart.” He is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com