"I would be wiped off the face of the earth": Trump announced the possibility of ending the war in Afghanistan in a week

The United States could have ended the war in Afghanistan in its favor in a week, but that would have resulted in huge loss of life. Such a statement was made by US President Donald Trump before the start of talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“If we wanted to fight the war in Afghanistan and win it, I could have won it in a week. I just don’t want to kill 10 million people, ”Trump said in the White House.

WATCH: President of the Trump says that he couldn’t be a warrior for 10 days; " pic.twitter.com/IftsRmBjpG

“I have plans for Afghanistan. If I wanted to win the war, Afghanistan would be obliterated, it would disappear. It would have been over in just ten days. And I do not want to do this. I do not want to go this way, ”- said the President of the United States.

According to him, instead of using the force scenario of resolving the Afghan conflict, he is counting on resolving the crisis peacefully, through working with Washington’s regional partners. Trump said that “huge potential” is hidden in bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan, and expressed confidence that Islamabad will help the States to “get out” from Afghanistan.

“In essence, we are now serving as police officers, but we should not be policemen. We have been in Afghanistan for 19 years. This is ridiculous, and I think Pakistan will help us with this because we don’t want to remain as police officers, ”Trump said.

He added that instead of “fighting for victory,” US forces in Afghanistan are busy rebuilding schools and building gas stations. Although such infrastructure projects, according to the president, should not concern Washington.

• US military in Afghanistan
• Reuters
• © Baz Ratner

Gentle hint

Discussion of the Afghan settlement was one of the key themes of the negotiations between Trump and Khan against the background of the program of military assistance to Pakistan stopped in 2018. Then the American authorities came out with serious criticism of Islamabad, who, according to Donald Trump, for many years received funding from Washington, giving in exchange only “lies and deception”.

“The United States mistakenly gave Pakistan more than $ 33 billion in financial aid over the past 15 years; in return, they gave us nothing but lies and deception, holding our leaders for fools. They harbor terrorists for whom we hunt in Afghanistan, and practically do not help. This will not happen again! ”- declared Trump in January 2018.

Since 2002, Pakistan has received more than $ 33 billion in aid from the United States, of which $ 14 billion from the Pentagon, has been received by Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund program. However, Islamabad was criticized in Washington for "the lack of decisive action" in support of the US strategy in South Asia.

Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of American and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a conversation with RT that a certain amount of slyness is present in Trump’s recent statements, since there is no enemy in Afghanistan, because the “enemy” is the country's population.

“As for the US-Pakistani relations, they have deteriorated sharply. Trump's praise that 10 million people could have died is a subtle hint at very thick circumstances. The United States during its operations during these years and recently subjected to bombardment, including the territory of Pakistan. This is due to the fact that the militants retreated to Pakistani territory. Plus, Pakistan may be giving them some kind of shelter, ”said the expert.

RT's interlocutor believes that Trump's rhetoric is, firstly, a hint that Pakistan does not provide any support to the Taliban * and the militants. The second hint, the analyst added, may indicate that in case of failure of the peace initiative, military actions will be more active in Pakistan.

“No matter what peace agreement is signed, it will be declarative. If the US leaves Afghanistan, in fact, the Taliban will go to power, who will start to do everything they want, ”added Vasilyev.

He also did not rule out the fact that Washington may be interested in maintaining a certain contingent on the territory of Afghanistan, since this country borders on Iran.

• US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan
• AFP
• © Shah Marai

In turn, the expert of the Center for Security Studies of the RAS Konstantin Blokhin in a conversation with RT stated that if the United States wants to win the war in Afghanistan at any cost, then they can go to the most extreme of means - the use of nuclear weapons.

“But is it possible then to talk about victory when it is appropriate to talk about genocide? Obviously, this is bravado by force and nothing more, ”the expert noted.

He recalled that the experience of Afghanistan has shown that this country is the “graveyard of all empires” that wanted to enter there not with the help of absolute weapons, but with the use of human resources, and all these campaigns failed.

“Even at the peak of the military campaign, the one hundred thousandth American military contingent did not show any special results. Today there is a discussion in American political science: “We spent a lot of money, huge resources, but nothing came of it. We have spent more resources than the combined GDP of Afghanistan and Iraq. Should I use military force in such countries? ”- said Blokhin.

The expert noted that Afghanistan occupies an important geo-strategic position - between two key actors whose actions are important for Washington - China and Russia, and also adjacent to India, which also plays a significant role in containing Beijing.

“That is, Afghanistan is valuable not in terms of resources or of any special mission, but in terms of geostrategic significance. Obviously, the United States will not dare complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, but their task is to reduce the size of their contingent in order to spend less and at least maintain a presence, shifting all functions, say, to their partners, ”added Blokhin.

However, the analyst pointed out that today Pakistan is not very suitable for the role of a US partner, because against the background of the complication of bilateral relations, Washington began to “flirt” with India and set a course to contain China.

“For Pakistan, India is the main enemy, and China is an important economic partner. Maybe tactical achievements are possible, some agreements on Afghanistan, but in the long run, Pakistan is not in favor of the United States, ”the expert concluded.

* “Taliban” - an organization recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003