Afghan President Ashraf Ghani responded positively to President Donald Trump’s speech announcing a new strategy on his country’s war on Tuesday, thanking America for its “enduring commitment … in this global conflict.”
The United States has invested nearly $117 billion in the Afghan government throughout the 21st century. America’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) told Breitbart News in July that it is impossible to estimate how much of that money America has lost to corruption, “but it is too much.”
Trump’s remarks, in which he announced that he would not choose an end date for the war publicly and allow the Pentagon to invest further in the war, will guarantee the Afghan government continued support for training its military, among other projects.
“President Ashraf Ghani welcomes the decision by President Donald Trump, which shows an enduring commitment by Afghanistan’s foundational partner in this global conflict,” the Office of the President, ARG Palace said in a statement published by Afghan outlet Khaama news and reproduced on Ghani’s Twitter account.
“I am grateful to President Trump and the American people for this affirmation of support for our efforts to achive self-reliance and for our joint struggle to rid the region from the threat of terrorism,” Ghani said in the statement. “The U.S. Afghan partnership is stronger than ever in overcoming the threat of terrorism that threatens us all. The strength of our security forces should show the Taliban and others that they cannot win a military victory. The objective of peace is paramount.”
Ghani also expects Washington will further support nation-building efforts in the country, stating, “This announcement is part of a package of support enabling Afghans to achieve the goal of stability and self-reliance, by focusing on efforts for the eradication of poverty, economic investment, and better equipping the ANDSF to achieve its military objectives.”
In his speech Monday night, Trump stated, “We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.”
On behalf of the Afghan govt and people, I welcome the decision made by Pre. @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/00saLxz3nA
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) August 22, 2017
SIGAR consistently releases reports detailing extravagant U.S. government waste and corruption in Afghanistan. On Tuesday, Breitbart News reported that a new SIGAR report found that the government cannot account for most of a $160 million Obama-era investment into a program to end corruption at Afghan customs collection. In an interview with Breitbart News in July, SIGAR’s John Sopko declined to provide a number for how much American money is lost to corruption, but gave one example of a failed program, saying, “We’ve spent $8 billion on counternarcotics and there is [sic] more drugs being put out now than when we started.”
President Trump did not mention counternarcotics in his speech Monday, despite opium being the most significant source of revenue for the Taliban.
While the Afghan government welcomed President Trump’s remarks, the Taliban decried the speech as “old” and “unclear,” while warning, “if America doesn’t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century.”
Last week, the Afghan Taliban published an open letter to the president urging him to withdraw troops from the country. “A number of warmongering congressmen and generals in Afghanistan are pressing you to protract the war in Afghanistan because they seek to preserve their military privileges, but instead you must act responsibly as the fate of many Americans and Afghans alike is tied to this issue,” the letter read in part.
“It seems to be a historical mistake on the part of the previous administrations to have dispatched American youth for the slaughter of Afghans. However, as a responsible American president, you need to study the mistakes of your predecessors and prevent death and injury to American forces in Afghanistan,” it added.
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