Chaos Agent in Chief

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghans were startled to hear President Trump’s remarks that he could end the war in Afghanistan “in a week” but that it would cause the deaths of millions of people.

The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday immediately asked for “clarification” about Trump’s statement “via diplomatic means and channels.”

  WaPo

And someone in the administration will be happy to tell him what Trump really meant.

“If I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth,” Trump said Monday. “It would be over in literally, in 10 days.” He did not elaborate on how that would be done.

Yeah, why ten?

Trump made the seemingly offhand comments during a White House meeting with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in which the two discussed a number of bilateral issues, including ending the war in Afghanistan.

Just his usual bluster and oral diarrhea.

The statement from Ghani’s office said that while it “supports the U.S. efforts for ensuring peace in Afghanistan, the government underscores that foreign heads of state cannot determine Afghanistan’s fate.”

We still try.

Rahmatullah Nabil, a candidate in Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential election, said in a tweet that in response to the president’s “insults,” all Afghan leaders, from Ghani to the Taliban, “should drop their selfishness & announce that we will make peace among ourselves.” There is no need for mediation from the United States or Pakistan, he added.

Now there's a good idea.

Others were more concerned with facts. Rana Momand, an Afghan American tweeted: “Can some1 tell #DonaldTrump in order to wipe Afg off the face of the earth, he must get rid of 32 million Afghans, not just 10 mil.” The United Nations puts the current population of Afghanistan at 37.2 million.

[...]

The United States has been at war in Afghanistan since 2001, when it launched airstrikes after the 9/11 attacks to help Afghan resistance forces drive the Taliban from power.

The public reason.

It has become the longest war in U.S. history.

Mostly forgotten about in this country.