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WASHINGTON: The much-anticipated Af-Pak policy of President Donald Trump is likely to be announced after the NATO summit in Brussels later this month when he would consult allies, the White House hinted on Friday.
“The president has not made a decision yet on a course of action. What we have done, which is what we have done in many cases, on the North Korea problem set, for example, is we’ve consulted broadly across our government and with allies,” National Security Advisor Lt Gen HR McMaster said.
“The president wants to hear from our allies as well. This is a President who listens to his allies and partners. He’ll have an opportunity to do so at the NATO summit. He’ll have an opportunity to do so at the G-7,” McMaster said.
“So, what we we’ll have at the end this next few weeks here, is an opportunity for a much more effective strategy for the problem set in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region broadly,” he added.
At the same time, McMaster said, the US was committed to achieving its fundamental objectives in Afghanistan. He recalled the September 2001 attack originated with a terrorist safe haven and support base in Afghanistan.
“Recently we have been engaged against ISIS Khorasan in Afghanistan with highly successful operations there,” he said adding that details would be announced by the Department of Defense in the near future.
“But what has happened in Afghanistan is the Afghan army taking the brunt of the fight against these transnational terrorists and the Taliban,” he said.
