Speech: NATO in Afghanistan Country: U.S.

Suchith Shantharaj

With the current state that the Afghan government is in, it is evident that actions need to be taken in order to prevent the situation from declining any further. This is why the U.S. believes that in order to raise the influence and power of the Afghan government, and do the exact opposite to the Taliban, three separate steps need to be achieved, including a new military strategy, a new civilian strategy, and finally a new Afghan-Pakistani Partnership, all part of the U.S.'s New Afghanistan Plan. The most short-term goal is the U.S.'s new military strategy, centered on providing military aid to Afghanistan. Despite the newly established timeline, the US stands by its previous decisions to keep military forces there, and has signed a pact with Afghanistan to do so, as it is evident that the Afghan military is still not self-sufficient. This is why the new military strategy would achieve three goals, reverse the Taliban's momentum by having a powerful military presence, train the Afghan military, and ensure the safety of the Afghan citizens. By doing so, the US would be able to provide aid, training, and safety to Afghanistan's military, assisting it become more self-sufficient, and raising its national influence. The second part of the US's plan is a new civilian strategy. As per this strategy, the US would take in the funding that goes to

Speech: NATO in Afghanistan Country: U.S.

Suchith Shantharaj

Afghanistan, and would help the government to properly allocate that money, sending appropriate amounts into businesses that help Afghanistan's economy, public works projects and immediate impact projects. On top of that, the U.S. hopes to increase trade between Afghanistan and its neighboring countries to spur growth. The final and most crucial part in the US's New Afghanistan Plan is establishing a new partnership between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the past, despite the presence of TWO very influential terrorist groups, Pakistan was able to put down Al-Qaeda and Taliban actions, and was able to show the power and influence of both its government and military. Now, Afghanistan is facing the same situation that Pakistan did years ago, but only has to face a single active terrorist group. This is why the U.S. wants to bring in the power, influence, policies and intelligence of the Pakistani government and military, and help them to guide Afghanistan out of their current situation, helping to finally establish the power of the Afghan government and military. [By bringing together comprehensive strategies on these three fronts, the U.S. believes that the situation in Afghanistan can be alleviated to a great extent, and that the Afghan government can finally become a respected governing authority.]