President Trump fired back at the Wall Street Journal after it cautioned him not to be “impulsive” in his dealings with Afghanistan.
Trump responded to a Wall Street Journal Sunday editorial in a series of two tweets. He argued that he is not impulsive when it comes to Afghanistan and defended his goal of pulling troops out of the war-torn region.
“The Wall Street Journal Editorial states that it doesn’t want me to act in an ‘impulsive’ manner in Afghanistan. Could somebody please explain to them that we have been there for 19 years, and while soldier counts are way down now, hardly impulsive. Besides, the Taliban is……….mixed about even wanting us to get out. They make a fortune $$$ by having us stay, and except at the beginning, we never really fought to win. We are more of a police force than the mighty military that we are, especially now as rebuilt. No, I am not acting impulsively!” Trump tweeted on Monday.
…..mixed about even wanting us to get out. They make a fortune $$$ by having us stay, and except at the beginning, we never really fought to win. We are more of a police force than the mighty military that we are, especially now as rebuilt. No, I am not acting impulsively!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2020
The Wall Street Journal editorial warned about the risk of Taliban insurgents attempting to wrest control of the country following a haphazard exit of U.S. troops.
“The Taliban know that President Trump is eager to withdraw all U.S. troops from the country, preferably before Election Day in November, so he can claim a diplomatic victory,” the editorial board wrote. “But that gives the Taliban an incentive to bide their time in the hope of goading Mr. Trump to do something impulsive.”
“The best chance for a U.S. exit with honor, one that doesn’t lead to a murderous Taliban march on Kabul, is to make clear to the Taliban that the U.S. won’t force its allies to accept a bad deal,” the board added.
The editorial comes after a power-sharing deal that bridges a divide between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah. Earlier this year, both men claimed that they had won the controversial Afghan election. The deal represents a big move within the country’s political sphere.
A peace deal was signed in late February by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, although that deal has been put to the test with increases in violence between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Last week, two dozen people, including when and children, were killed when gunmen entered a Kabul maternity ward and attacked. The United States placed the blame on the Islamic State, while Afghan authorities said the Taliban could be behind the massacre.
