Trump's New Strategy for Afghanistan
Note to Trump: Nation-Building is the Answer in Afghanistan By Wahab Raofi KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. President Donald Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan contains some bold new ideas that might help, but he got the most important part wrong. When Mr. Trump said, “We are not nation-building again ... we are killing terrorists,” he was catering to an American citizenry grown weary of this never-ending war. But help with nation-building is precisely what Afghanistan needs most. First, here are the good aspects of the new strategy: a U.S. president finally is warning Pakistan that it won’t be able to support radical elements with its own security establishment and still get billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to “fight” terrorists. Also, Mr. Trump has sent a strong message to the Afghan government that the era of the blank check is over. Too much cash meant to help the people of Afghanistan has ended...