Trump Speaks Out on Afghanistan, Get U.S. Out, No More Mass Killing

March 6, 2020 (EIRNS)—In the Scranton, Pennsylvania town hall this evening, sponsored by Fox News, President Donald Trump was asked about his deal in Afghanistan and his phone call to a Taliban leader, said to be Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Fox News asked:

“You said it was a good conversation, in which you said you both didn’t want violence. However, on that same day, the Taliban launched some 50 attacks in Afghanistan, 40 of them in one province. There are many Americans really wondering—and the U.S. struck back against the Taliban. There are many Americans ... wondering where the ‘peace’ part of the peace plan is. And can you trust the Taliban?”

The President: So, these are warriors. We’ve been there for 20 years. We’re really serving more as a law enforcement group than a military group. We could win that war very easily, but I don’t feel like killing millions of people in order to do it. We don’t want to do that. You don’t want to do that. Nobody wants to do that. People are tired. Even the biggest hawks are tired of being there.

I had a very good conversation with him. There was a group that formed. And, again, you know, they have many tribes and they have many different—it’s hard for one. There’s like perfectly one control. I spoke to a certain man who is the leader, but the leader has not—it’s not the easiest leadership position. ... And the structure is ... tribes all over the place. A group formed that was going to attack certain soldiers—Afghan soldiers—and the military heard about it, and the military went and they took them out....

I think after 19, actually, going very close to 20 years, they’re also tired of fighting, believe it or not. But they are warriors and they are fighters and that’s what they’ve done for a thousand years. You know, just ask the Soviet Union, which became Russia because of Afghanistan. You know, it’s a tough place.

Fox: But what about the conditions on the ground? Because, you know, General Mattis had a disagreement with you about pulling troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.

The President: Well, I was right.

Fox: If the generals say to you, ‘Mr. President, we need more people, not fewer people right now,’ what will you do?

The President: Well, Mattis said that and I gave him more people for a short period of time, and it didn’t work out. And what we’re doing is policing....

Fox: But if it takes more troops to keep the Taliban from taking over Afghanistan, is that something you would be willing to do or no?

The President: Well, you know, there’s a big question about the government of Afghanistan. There’s a big question about that whole situation in Afghanistan. We’re getting along very well with everybody. We have to get our people back home.... Eventually, we have to leave. We don’t want to stay there for another 20 years. We don’t want to stay there for 100 years. We want our people to come back home. (Applause.)