President Donald Trump discussed his plans to combat terror in Afghanistan Monday evening during a speech at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va.
The president announced plans to increase the number of troops on the ground in the relatively unstable nation of Afghanistan. He cautioned that the increase shouldn’t be perceived as a “nation-building” attempt, but rather a step up in the war on terror.
“Terrorists who slaughter innocent people will find no glory in this life or the next,” Trump concluded in his speech. “We must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists who threaten Americans… We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.”
He also announced the exact end dates and troop counts won’t be made public in an attempt to better facilitate the end goals of reducing terrorist capabilities. He stressed that he cared much more about getting things done on the ground compared to “arbitrary time tables” set by other administrations in the past.
“I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will,” Trump asserted, announcing an imminent attack on the Taliban prevalent in the country.
“If the U.S. does not pull all its forces out of Afghanistan, we will make this country the 21st century graveyard for the American empire,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement after the speech.
The United States has been in Afghanistan continuously since President George W. Bush entered the country shortly after the 9/11 attacks due to concerns that the Taliban was providing a refuge for al-Qaeda groups.
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