WASHINGTON - A top Republican Senator has urged the Trump Administration to address the urgent security situation in Afghanistan in view of recent terrorist attacks.
“The security situation in Afghanistan demands the urgent attention of President Trump and his administration,” Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee said on Thursday.
He was speaking a day after three simultaneous suicide attacks by Taliban in Kabul killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.
John McCain said another district had reportedly fallen to the Taliban in northern Afghanistan – a setback coming on the heels of disturbing losses across the country.
General John Nicholson, US and NATO forces commander in Afghanistan, recently confirmed an inspector general report that said the Afghan government controlled or influenced just 57 percent of the country’s districts -- down from 72 percent just over a year ago, the senator rued.
“General Nicholson testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that the war in Afghanistan is in a stalemate.”
“President Trump and his administration must treat Afghanistan with the same urgency as the fight against ISIL, or else this stalemate risks sliding into strategic failure,” McCain said.
“Make no mistake: Afghans are fighting ferociously to defend their own country from our common enemies. But we must also recognize that America is still at war in Afghanistan against the terrorist enemies that attacked our nation on September 11th,” he said.
McCain said securing Afghanistan and preventing another attack on the US required right people in right places with right authorities and right capabilities.
“President Trump has the opportunity to turn the page and finally give our commanders the resources and authorities they need to seize the initiative and take the fight to our enemies. I urge him to do so immediately,” he said. (Pajhwok)