The Pentagon report has hinted at a favorable political settlement in Afghanistan despite challenges on multiple fronts, according to a media report on Sunday.
The US Defense Department report released this week cited the effects of a recent military escalation coupled with diplomatic initiatives.
“The current military situation inside Afghanistan remains at an impasse. The introduction of additional advisers and enablers in 2018 stabilized the situation, slowing the momentum of a Taliban march that had capitalized on US drawdowns between 2011 and 2016,” the report said.
“Diplomatic, religious, military and social pressures, enabled by the conditions-based strategy, and buoyed by increased international engagement, have forced the Taliban senior leadership to debate whether to enter negotiations with the Afghan government,” the report added. In August 2017, US President Donald Trump announced his administration’s strategy on Afghanistan and put forth a case for staying the course and not allowing the country to become a haven for terrorists who would once again pose a threat to US national security.
“I share the American people’s frustration. I also share their frustration over a foreign policy that has spent too much time, energy, money and most importantly lives, trying to rebuild countries in our own image,” President Trump said at the time, promising to end nation-building and focus instead on US national security interests.
Trump said the new US strategy would shift from a timeline-based approach to a condition-based one.
