Posted on 09/09/2019 7:22:17 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
'In the last ten days we've killed over 1,000 Taliban'
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "conditions are about to get worse" for the Taliban in Afghanistan after President Donald Trump called off a meeting between Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, Taliban leaders, and the United States.
"We're going to make sure that everyone in the region understands that America will always protect its national security interests," he said.
Pompeo emphasized that the objective was to get a deal that would have both sides stand back and reduce violence, and that would require the Taliban to make a public announcement that it's breaking ties with al Qaeda.
"We're not going to withdraw our forces without making sure we achieve President Trump's twin objectives," Pompeo said. "Any reduction in our forces will be based on actual conditions, not commitments, actual conditions on the ground."
"If you're the Taliban, conditions have been worsening. They're about to get worse," he added.
Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd asked if this means the United States would increase military activity against the Taliban. Pompeo warned that no one "should underestimate President Trump's commitment" to achieving his goals in the country, and he informed Todd that U.S. forces recently killed more than 1,000 Taliban fighters.
"You should know, in the last ten days we've killed over a thousand Taliban," Pompeo said. "While this is not a war of attrition, I want the American people to know that President Trump is taking it to the Taliban, in an effort to make sure that we protect American interests."
"You've got to get a deal," Pompeo added, arguing that they had made progress until the Taliban's recent attack made Trump call off negotiations. Trump said the Kabul car bombing was the Taliban's attempt to improve its negotiating position, a tactic he found unacceptable.
Todd also asked Pompeo if talks were permanently off after Saturday's abrupt cancellation.
"For the time being that's absolutely the case," Pompeo responded.
"We have an obligation to reduce risk, and at the same time we cannot permit terror to strike again from Afghanistan here into the United States," he continued. "Our negotiations have been aimed at achieving each of those objectives and reducing violence."
Todd then asked Pompeo about whether or not the Afghan government was the first to pull out of the negotiations, which Pompeo said was false.
"That [Taliban attack] was something President Trump can never stand for," Pompeo said. "We informed both President Ghani and our Taliban interlocutors that these meetings will not take place."
Todd pointed out that the Taliban had been killing American soldiers throughout the process, asking why this wasn't a problem before.
"It's always a problem any time the Taliban conduct terror attacks, certainly when they injure Americans or kill Americans," Pompeo said.
This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Afghanistan, Foreign
1,000 down. A million to go.
Population reduction!!! Tell the left we are helping save precious resources....
If the Taliban knew such a thing as "worse", they would have capitulated to the Russians. In comparison, we are relatively tame.
LOL, we let lisping limp wristed JAGs persecute our soldiers for pissing on a Taliban corpse! Ha ha ha—talk about wusses.
I’d start with taking out the poppy fields and the mullahs and madrassas.
So is ours. More dead & maimed American soldiers, more tens of Billions of dollars of debt.
This is utter stupidity. I expected better.
1000 dead is some serious whoop ass.
It’s a principle in islam that if you attack and cause serious retaliation, you are a shame to Islam because the victim was not ready for subjugation. The teachings are to back off as islam has overstepped.
Pompeo is speaking their language perfectly.
Linebacker 2020.
Consider...was the Taliban the intended audience?
How long, would be hard to guess but it would be a lot longer than partial measures. Make every last accessible enemy evil doer go to where they think their 72 virgins are waiting. Escalate our attacks until there is nothing else to attack fitting our criteria of who are the enemy evil doers, where their nests are.
Personally, I would even ignore any surrender flags. I realize that's not viable but I don't trust even their surrendering actions. Wipe their evil doing out. I don't see any other remotely lasting solution.
Wimpy air-headed blather pretending these are reasonable people is suicidal idiocy. Whether incestual DNA is a factor or poor education or rabid religiosity--it doesn't matter. They are intractable. They are not educable--certainly not in the short term but seemingly not in the long term either--at least without massive control of all their media--not doable realistically.
It is irrational & suicidal for our decent, patriotic, survival goals to pretend otherwise is true. Otherwise is not true. The evildoers proved it first with the Russians. They've been relentlessly proving it fighting us. When will we learn?
Playing a life & death game with civil decent rules may only be suicidal. Survival is a very high priority. We must act like it with these evil doers. Unless wiped out, they will only ratchet up their goals of incrementally invading us increasingly with thousands across our southern boarder to add to the thousands of sleeper agents already here.
Playing Sunday afternoon volley ball with such evildoers only results in losing more of our finest patriots in uniform at whatever rate of attrition. One lost per week or month is too many to waste on such animals. The evildoers are addicts of a death lust--Fine--indulge them in their death god obsession. Be done with them.
If you wish--protect & aid civilian groups to blanket the areas with Christian salvation msgs in their language a few weeks before lowering the boom. But at some point--enough. Indulge their lust for martyrdom.
Finally...some sense in a post.
just now, WTH have they been doing?
we are done there. OBL is dead. Let Russia, China, or India tame the place. Not worth another American life.
“1000 dead is some serious whoop ass.”
I am suspicious of round numbers. And America learned all about “body count math” back in the Vietnam war. Maybe we should dust off the F-4s and Hueys if we are going to start bragging about body counts.
We are lead by morons.
The minute you go to them to beg for a negotiation so that you can leave.... any idiot would know you are weak.
Have they sent Puff gunships over and/or Tomahawks into known enemy compound HQs?
1,000 is a waltz, 10,000 would be worth a jig or two.
The RoE always favored the Talibunnies. Now they run thick.
Either ‘harvest’ now or let the latest crop go to seed.
Some species beg for elimination. Oh, and be careful which species you choose to foster and which to fight.
The Soviets found that out the hard way.
I paid for those MOABs. I would like to see them used and re-stocked.
Use the freaking bombs for what they’re paid for - killing terrorist scum. The taliban want to mess with the US and President Trump?
They’re about to learn a new lesson.
exactly right. Get rid of the poppy fields, the mullahs and the madrassas, and not in that order.
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