US has had enough of 19 yrs in Afghanistan: Trump
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US President Donald Trump, Image credit: PTI
Washington : US President Donald Trump has said the US has had enough of 19 years in Afghanistan,reiterating American troops, who are the greatest soldiers in the world but acting as a "police force" in the strife-torn country, are returning.
Trump has repeatedly said he would bring home all the US troops from "endless wars". It was also one of his promises during his 2016 Presidential campaign.
Last month, he said the United States would reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 4,000 in a very short period of time.
"We never had anything like it -- and sacrificing American blood and treasure in endless foreign wars in countries that you''ve never even heard of. And they''re all coming back. You know that, right? I hope nobody objects," Trump told his supporters on Wednesday at an election rally in Gastonia, in the battleground state of North Carolina.
"I think 19 years in Afghanistan is enough, wouldn''t you say? We''re like a police force over there. We have the greatest soldiers in the world, but over there we''re like a police force. 19 years is enough," he said.
"You think it''s easy getting out with all the military-industrial complex, right? The military -- beware the military-industrial complex. They are right but we are all coming home, they are all coming home," Trump said.
Early this month, Trump announced that he will bring all troops back from Afghanistan by year end. The Pentagon had expressed surprise over it, while the Taliban had welcomed the move.
The US and the Taliban signed a landmark deal in Doha on February 29 to bring lasting peace in war-torn Afghanistan and allow US troops to return home from America''s longest war.
Under the US-Taliban pact signed in Doha, the US has agreed to reduce its troops in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600 in the next 130 days and withdraw all its soldiers in 14 months.
US President Trump, 74, a Republican, is seeking another term in the White House. He is being challenged by former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, of the Democratic Party in the November 3 presidential election.
The report from PTI with minor edits