By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Comments from the U.S. president about wiping Afghanistan "off the face of the Earth" stirred strong feelings of resentment in the war-ravaged country.
Ahead of a Monday meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Trump told reporters at the White House that he could win the war in Afghanistan in just one week, but would not because he did not want millions to die.
"I don’t want to kill 10 million people," he said, adding: "I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth, it would be gone, it would be over in literally 10 days.”
His Afghan counterpart in Kabul, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, was quick to raise concerns with a call for clarification: "Afghanistan as one of the most deep-rooted and ancient countries of the world have been able to overcome countless crisis during history," Ghani’s office responded, adding that the country would not allow its fate to be determined by a foreign power.
"Our cooperation and partnership with the world countries, particularly with the United States, is grounded on common interests and mutual respect. While the Afghan government supports the US efforts for ensuring peace in Afghanistan, the government underscores that foreign heads of state cannot determine Afghanistan’s fate in absence of the Afghan leadership," it said in a statement.
It added that, given the multifaceted relationship between Afghanistan and the U.S., Kabul called via diplomatic channels for clarification on Trump’s statements, expressed at a meeting with the Khan. "The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will keep the Afghan public posted on the issue," the statement said.
Former president Hamid Karzai -- who became a staunch critic of the U.S. at the end of his second term in 2014, also condemned the remarks.
"Trump’s statement reflects the inner instincts of America’s leadership towards our people and our country and shows that they do not respect the life and dignity of humans," he said in a statement
- Did Trump warn of nuking Afghanistan?
There were no clear hints about Trump's proposed "plan" for winning the Washington's longest war as it neared it 18th year.
After his election in 2017, Trump unveiled the U.S. National Security Strategy and the U.S. South Asia strategy, in which U.S. forces were granted additional authority in the pursuit of alleged terrorists -- unlike the previous policy post-2014 when the NATO-led combat mission evolved into the training-focused mission Resolute Support.
Another salient feature of the policy was the absence of a set deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Defense affairs analyst Mohammad Arif argued that Trump broke all diplomatic norms and seriously undermined the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghanistan by using such a language.
"These remarks can be perceived as anything from a nuclear attack to the dropping of multiple Mother of All Bombs [MOAB, dropped on a suspected Daesh hideout in Afghanistan in April 2017], which is ironically in clear contrast to the essence of the bilateral agreement [BSA]," he said.
Trump's remarks may also prove "bluff", said Arif, a former Afghan Air Force brigadier general.
The remarks in question came at the heels of top U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad’s resumption of shuttle diplomacy in Afghanistan, and on the eve of the country's centenary.