Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Nicholson Says Winning War is Critical

Nicholson Says Winning War is Critical

KABUL - Nicholson’s remarks come after Trump reportedly finalized the decision on Afghanistan during a high level meeting with military aides at Camp David.
General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan has said that winning the war in Afghanistan is critical not only to Afghanistan, but for the entire world.
This comes as the Trump administration prepares to announce the new war strategy in the country.
He said that the enemies have only one option to bring an end to the war they fight on behalf of neighboring countries and to stop the killing of Afghan civilians.
“The fight against terror is the most important in the world today, the cost of failures are unimaginable, we must win not only for the future of Afghanistan and the Afghan people, but for the entire world, the enemy has this simple choice, stop fighting on behalf of the neighbors against your own people, stop killing innocent civilians, stop bringing hardship and misery to the Afghan people, lay down your arms, build a better future for your country and your families. The message to the enemy is simple, you can not win,” said Nicholson.
Meanwhile Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has expressed hope that the new US strategy on the war in Afghanistan will help to reduce the level of violence in the country.
Although, the new strategy on the Afghan war has not been finalized by Donald Trump’s administration, Afghan officials hope that the US government holds Pakistan accountable for its support of terrorism in the new strategy.
This comes a day after the chief of the US Central Command General Joseph Votel visited Pakistan where he called on Pakistan officials to make sure that terrorists do not use Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighboring countries.
“Votel stressed that Pakistani soil should not be used to plan or conduct terrorist attacks against its neighbors," the US embassy in Islamabad quoted Votel as saying.
Meanwhile, a source within the Afghan government said on condition of anonymity that apparently a consensus has been made among White House officials on the deployment of additional US troops to Afghanistan as part of the new strategy.
“If they want the strategy to be successful, they must put pressure on Pakistan, Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” said military analyst Mohsin Mukhtar.
There is some speculation that the US relationship with Pakistan has been under scrutiny during Trump’s lengthy review of a new strategy and troop levels in the fight against Taliban and other militant groups in the country.
“The negotiations which took place between the US and Afghan leaders, we hope that these relations continue in the best way,” said Mujib Rahimi, spokesman for CEO Abdullah Abdullah.
US officials have said that the Trump administration will announce the new strategy at an appropriate time.
“Important day spent at Camp David with our very talented Generals and military leaders. Many decisions made, including on Afghanistan,” Trump said in a tweet on Saturday after meeting with his aides, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to discuss his administration's new strategy on Afghanistan.
Mattis said recently that there were a number of options on the table when it comes to the new strategy on Afghanistan and the options included of the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, deployment of additional forces or handing over the mission to private security firms. (Tolonews)