Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the goal of America’s renewed commitment in Afghanistan is to have one, unifying strategy, not nation building.
“In many ways, we haven’t had one strategy for all those years. We’ve had 16 years, 16 different strategies. And what President Trump announced yesterday was a whole new strategy for South Asia that said look we’re going to provide the resources and the military personnel, and the air assets necessary to support the Afghan armies efforts to defeat the Taliban,” Mr. Pence said on Fox News.
When asked what the goals are, the vice president said “not nation building,” a tactic the Bush administration tried at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.
Mr. Pence said President Trump made it clear in his speech Monday night that America’s interest in continuing the fight is to ensure its own security interests and continue to help the Afghan armies grow stronger.
“We’ll let the Afghan people build their own nation. Our objective there is to advance the security of the United States of America and to support the Afghan national army as they stay in the lead, in the fight,” he said. “What [the American people] heard last night was a commander in chief who is committed to see this mission through. To see it through, not for nation building, but to see it through to a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.”
Mr. Trump declined to give details on the new strategy and has said in the past he wouldn’t give exact details on military tactics.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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