Taliban; Afghanistan to become another “graveyard” for super power
Several Pakistani political commentators and leaders have expressed concern over US President Donald Trump’s new policy asking India to extend more economic support to stabilize Afghanistan. Trump has also criticized Pakistan for harboring terrorists.
The News, reported from Islamabad that Abdul Basit, former High Commissioner to India, has criticized Donald Trump’s new Afghan policy saying that “US is either clueless or deliberately complicating matters in Afghanistan.” He has earlier served as spokesman at Pakistan’s foreign office.
According to Dawn, a prominent Pakistani newspaper, Imran Khan, Chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has said, “US again blame Pakistan for its deeply flawed and failed Afghan policy stretching over a decade.”
He suggested that this should teach Pakistan once and for all a valuable lesson: “never fight others’ wars for the lure of dollars.” He further said, “We fought two wars in Afghanistan at the US’ behest [while] paying heavy human and economic costs both times. We sacrificed 70,000 lives in US war on terror.”
Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist known for his interviews with Osama bin Laden and Mulla Omar, said “Is it not amazing that President Donald Trump is asking Pakistan to do more in the war while he wants Pakistan’s enemy number one — India — to invest in Afghanistan.”
He further said, “If India is more actively involved, its grip will increase in Afghanistan, creating a greater threat for Pakistan. How then will we be able to cooperate with America in this war? I don’t think it is possible. In my opinion, Pakistan will extend its cooperation in the matter, but to threaten or pressure it into the decision is not smart.”
“Trump does not believe in diplomacy; the tone he had in this address is the only one he has and it leads to problems rather than conflict resolution,” he added.
Zahid Hussain, another journalist who has covered Pakistan and Afghanistan for The Times of London and US based Wall Street Journal for several years, has said, “By assigning India a greater role in Afghanistan, the US has raised serious concerns in Pakistan — something previous US administrations were careful not to indulge in since we started helping in their war.”
Nusrat Javed, a well known TV anchor and political analyst said, “President Donald Trump has made a clear-cut statement: he is not asking us to do more, that time has passed — the American president is now asking us to act or else … I anticipate more in-land attacks on Pakistan besides the economic sanctions that will soon be slapped on us.”
Meanwhile, Press TV quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid saying in a statement on Tuesday, “If America doesn’t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century.”
He urged US to think of an exit strategy “instead of continuing war” on Afghanistan. Mujahid further said that Taliban would continue their militancy “as long as there is one US soldier in our land, and [as long as] they continue to impose war on us.”