Afghans Rub Obama's Face in Failure, Give Trump Beautiful Award for Bravery
President Barack Obama wasn’t terribly tough on the Taliban, given his limited rules of engagement and the fact that he withdrew troops from the region like there was no tomorrow. And he certainly wasn’t tough on Pakistan, a nation which received boatloads of American aid despite doing almost nothing to fight terrorism.
That changed in a hurry under the Trump administration, which has renewed the American military emphasis on the Afghan crisis and recently moved to strip hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from Pakistan due to their unwillingness or inability (and my money’s on the former) to fight terrorism in the region.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump tweeted at the time.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
As it turns out, it’s not just American conservatives applauding the move. Afghans are also big proponents of the administration’s move against Pakistan, with one citizen’s council awarding the president a medal for his stand against the Pakistani government. A “jirga” — or local council — of 300 people who convened on Jan. 14 agreed to award the medal based on Trump’s recent decision to revoke aid to Afghanistan’s oft-troublesome neighbor.
“This is a handmade medal from available gold,” Said Farhad Akbari, a community leader in Logar Province, told Radio Free Europe.
1/1President Donald J.Trump awarded by Gold medal of bravery and appreciation letter from Well known Tribal Elders in Afghanistan due to his strong and straight engagement with Pakistan about decade long war in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/HMSr2tXaJl
— Hewad J. Hemat (@HewadJhanHemat) January 14, 2018
A handwritten inscription on the medal reads, “This Bravery Medal is from the Afghan people to Donald Trump, president of the United States of America.”
“Akbari said the cost of the medal was about 45,000 afghanis ($645), considered a large sum for many in the region, about 60 kilometers outside of the capital, Kabul,” Radio Free Europe reported. “He said those supporting the award paid from their own funds and that he personally presented the medal to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on January 13.”
Logar Province is near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which means it sees plenty of the terrorist activity that the Pakistani government is supposed to be suppressing.
In fact, Akbari fought the Taliban in southern Afghanistan for a number of years before taking a position at the head of the Saadat tribe and operating a construction company, it was reported.
However, perhaps the Pakistanis can be induced to do some fighting of their own; as Reuters reports, the administration has suspended up to $2 billion in aid to Pakistan “over accusations that Islamabad is playing a double game in Afghanistan.”
And while the alleged U.S. ally denies the fact that they’re deliberately aiding terrorist groups like the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Haqqani network, let’s also note that this was the country where Osama bin Laden was hiding out in plain sight.
Yet, even after that revelation, the Obama administration still did nothing to put pressure on the Pakistanis. I guess you could call it “strategic patience.” And we all know how well that works.
It may only be a $645 medal, but the most beautiful thing about it is how it highlights Obama’s failure in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That alone is worth more than Nobel Peace Prize.
H/T The Daily Wire
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