Afghans greet Trump's announcement with relief, concerns
Source: The Washington Post
By Pamela Constable August 22 at 5:29 AM
KABUL — Relieved Afghan officials instantly welcomed President Trump’s strategy announcement Tuesday, citing his assurance of broad U.S. military, economic and political support despite a lack of specific pledges, and praising his tough stance on Pakistan, which he denounced for offering safe haven to “terrorists” and “agents of chaos.”
Shortly after Trump’s speech, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani described himself as “grateful to President Trump and the American people for this affirmation of support for our efforts to achieve self reliance.”
The Afghan ambassador in Washington described the speech as “the first time a focus has been put on what Afghanistan must have to succeed,” and a sign of strong commitment to “our shared goals.”
Reaction among Afghan analysts and commentators was more mixed. Some said they appreciated the U.S. for not abandoning the war effort, as Trump had suggested before his election, but others said no new U.S. military strategy can help bring peace and stability unless the Afghan government, weakened by internal divisions and external attacks, can function better and bring meaningful reforms — the kind of state building specifically ruled out by Trump.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/afghans-greet-trumps-announcement-with-relief-concerns/2017/08/22/60e6af8c-868f-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop&utm_term=.66b275f7c707
= new reply since forum marked as read
Not sure I have any brilliant insight to add to what to do, as it seems even the really smart people who actually know stuff don't have a clue either (no, not the Trump administration 
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When I hear Trump talking about Afghanistan in the background yesterday, I got the impression that he may be saying he was ordering a full withdrawal (I couldn't barely hear) I was thinking how bad I felt for the people of Afghanistan, particularly the females. But then it's like we've been there for almost two decades and it's barely working. We also had some intelligent, educated, and mature adults in office for at least 8 years and they didn't come up with the winning solution either. Almost makes me wonder if there isn't one.
