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External Affairs In aclear articulation of a new Afghan policy, James Mattis and Rex Tillerson have virtually ruled out any political settlement with the Taliban.

US defence secretary James Mattis (left) and secretary of state Rex Tillerson. Credit: Reuters

Washington: The Trump administration appears to be inching towards a clear commitment to Afghanistan devoid of deadlines and fuzziness a development that will be welcomed both in Kabul and New Delhi.

US defence secretary James Mattis and secretary of state Rex Tillerson laid out the broad contours of the new policy, virtually ruling out a political settlement with the Taliban. It was the clearest articulation so far of the trajectory Washington intends to follow.

If the policy review currently underway sustains this line of thinking, it would be a definite break from the Obama administrations policy of promoting a peace process with the Taliban in the belief that a military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan was impossible.

This line of thinking was also promoted by Pakistan, which has harboured the Taliban leadership over the years to serve its own ends and not the cause of peace, according to independent analysts.

But it now appears senior officials in the Trump administration want to end what the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, described as a stalemate in testimony beforethe US Congress in February.

Speaking in Sydney at the annual US-Australia inter-ministerial dialogue, Mattis described the bottom line in Afghanistan in these words: We are not going to surrender civilisation to people who cannot win at the ballot box.

Tillerson, standing by his side, added, what we do understand is we can never allow Afghanistan to become a platform for terrorism and the US commitment is to ensure that it never becomes a safe haven for terrorists to launch attacks against the civilised world or against any other part of the world or any of their neighbours.

Casting the Taliban as uncivilised by implication is in itself a shift because USstate department diplomats and their contractors have been at pains not to describe them in pejorative terms. Certain Taliban leaders were never put on the UN terror list in the hope that they would come to the negotiating table.

Several years on, however, the peace process hasnt materialised. US analysts believe Pakistan has been leading Washingtondown a garden path for years, claiming at times the Taliban leaders dont live there, when they clearly do, and at others pretending it has no control over them this, even as it organises and oversees the leadership succession of the Quetta Shura.

But now indications are that Washington may be shifting gears.

The strong statements from the two top Trump officials came as Kabul was recovering from one of the worst terrorist attacks in the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave, which claimed 150 lives. Afghan officials said the May 31 attack was carried out by the Haqqani network with help from Pakistans intelligence service, the ISI.

On March 8, terrorists had targeted a military hospital in Kabul, killing 49 people in an attack lasting hours. Although the Islamic State claimed the attack, Afghan officials believe it was the Haqqanis. General Nicholson called it an unspeakable crime.

The upsurge in attacks on Afghans has lent an element of urgency to the ongoing war. Nicholson has argued for more US troops and it appears that Mattis, a retired general who was commander of CENTCOMin the Obama administration, may be listening.

Mattis said in Sydney the US was up against an enemy that knows they cannot win at the ballot box thats why they use bombs, because ballots would ensure they never had a role to play. He promised to stand by the Afghan people.

As Mattis and Tillerson were in Australia, their deputies, Lisa Curtis and Laura Miller, were returning from Kabul after meeting President Ashraf Ghani, a leader stuck between the impossible tribal politics of his country and relentless bloodletting by terrorists.

Ghani sent out a series of emotional tweets on June 6, including one in which he wondered about Pakistans motives. Our challenge is that we cannot figure out what is it that PAK wants. What will it take to convince PAK that a stable #AFG helps them?

Mohammad Taqi, a Pakistani American analyst who knows Afghanistan well, called the statement by Mattis a tectonic shift in US policy of the last 16 years. Stalemate is not just in the battle theatre but also in the policy arena. Pakistan has effectively held the US to a draw in Afghanistan, he said at the Hudson Institute on Tuesday.

It is time to stare reality in the face and stop tolerating Pakistans duplicitous policy as the Obama administration did, Taqi said. Taliban, Haqqanis, al-Qaeda, ISIS are fifty shades of jihadist grey. And none is amenable to a political solution.

The US has to recognise that Pakistans strategic calculus sees Afghanistan as a client state. The rest is feigned paranoia, especially its claims about being squeezed from sides India from the east and Afghanistan from the west.

He urged the US not to appease Pakistan because no amount of Fulbright scholarships or rotations at CENTCOM will change Rawalpindis security paradigm.

US policy must reflect that Afghan lives matter, said Taqi.

Seema Sirohi is a Washington DC-based commentator.

More:
Strong Words from James Mattis on Afghanistan, But Will They Hold? - The Wire

OTTAWA -- Canada is considering a NATO request to send police trainers to Afghanistan, three years after the military mission officially ended, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says.

The request came from the U.S. through NATO, and could involve either civilian police trainers like the RCMP, or military trainers working with Afghan police, a defence official added.

Sajjan says Canada is "looking at all aspects of support" for Afghanistan -- though he ruled out the country as a destination for Canadian peacekeepers since it's not a UN mission.

"We've actually had an ask, but it was for police trainers in Afghanistan," Sajjan said in an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CTV's Question Period.

"We are actually still committed to Afghanistan. We've provided the funding, whether it's for development" or salaries for security forces in the country, he said.

From 2014 to 2017, Canada committed $227 million in international development programs in Afghanistan, and $330 million from 2015 to 2018 in support for the Afghan National Security Forces, which include the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.

Sajjan says Canada can't look at any country in isolation.

"This is what coalitions are for, multilateralism is for. I'm in constant discussions with my counterparts on all the various threats, whether it's at NATO or the counter-DAESH meetings," he said, using another name for the Islamic State.

"We will always look at the various requests, but the thing is when we have the discussions, it's not about just one nation ... stepping up and saying, 'I'll do this.' It's about working together."

Peacekeeping mission 'on the table'

Last August, Sajjan announced Canada would devote 600 troops and $450 million over three years to a peacekeeping mission. He later toured several African countries and said he would announce the mission by the end of the year, but six months into 2017 there is still no word on where it will be.

A mission somewhere in the world "is on the table. We're committed to peace support operations," Sajjan said, citing a change in leadership at the UN and the new president of the U.S. as reasons for the delay.

"I've had discussions with [the UN], things looked very good... It's not about just sending troops. How can we now look at the current environment and bring our unique skillset to the table?"

While Sajjan ruled out Afghanistan as a peacekeeping destination, Richard Fadden, a former top civil servant at the Department of National Defence and former national security adviser to the prime minister, says having shed blood and spent a great deal of money on the country, it would make sense to return.

"Afghanistan has deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years," he said.

"I think if we were going anywhere to make a contribution, broadly speaking, to peace in the world, Afghanistan would be a good place to go. There are not that many other places where we could make a difference that would not result in ... our being involved in a massive quagmire."

Retired Gen. Tom Lawson, a former chief of the defence staff, says he prefers Afghanistan to some of the African countries Canada could end up, like Mali or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both would carry significant risks for Canadian Armed Forces personnel.

"If it keeps us out of other places, [like] in Africa, I'd be delighted as a former chief of defence," Lawson told Solomon.

"So Afghanistan is a place that Canadians have invested both money and blood. We continue to invest money there. If a return was in Canadian defence future, it would be to a familiar zone."

Over the 12-year mission, 158 Canadian troops were killed, as well as a diplomat, a journalist and two civilian contractors, according to a tally by The Canadian Press.

Read more:
NATO wants Canadians back in Afghanistan: Sajjan - CTV News

About 50 motorcyclists took part in the seventh annual Memorial Ride for the Fallen, traveling from Vancouver to the Langley memorial and the Highway of Heroes. Dan Ferguson Langley Times

Close to 50 riders took part in the seventh annual Memorial Ride for the Fallen to honour Canadas fallen soldiers in Afghanistan, traveling from Vancouver to Langleys Afghanistan Memorial Monument, the Walk to Remember.

Canadian flags lined the walkway of the memorial at Derek Doubleday Arboretum, which contains the names of each of the 158 Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan, and a tree has been planted in memory of each of them.

Its a way of showing that we havent forgotten the sacrifices of their loved ones while they were serving our country, organizer Barry Brutus Drews said .

I just thought it was the right thing to do.

Drews is a member of the 3rd Canadian Army Veterans (CAV) ROME unit, which was responsible for having a portion of Highway 1 in Langley designated the Highway of Heroes in 2011.

The movement spread across the country with the last dedication taking place in Newfoundland and Labrador last fall.

Now, every province has one.

Five Silver Cross families laid wreaths at the memorial.

The Silver Cross or Memorial Cross is awarded to the next of kin of Canadian soldiers who died on active duty or whose death was consequently attributed to such duty.

The crosses were sent automatically to mothers and wives who qualified, and could be worn by the recipients anytime, even though they were not themselves veterans. The cross was engraved with the name, rank and service number of the son or husband.

One of the Silver Cross mothers at the Langley event, Sheila Fynes from Victoria, rode to the event as a passenger on a motorcycle to remember her son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge.

We dont own a motorbike, she said.

I look around at these men and women and they just have such pure hearts and are so full of respect. This means everything for me.

Langridge, 28, was found dead in his Edmonton barracks in 2008.

Two years later, the Afghanistan war veteran was given the Sacrifice Medal, which is awarded to soldiers who die as a result of military service or are wounded by hostile action.

A scathing report by the Military Police Complaints Commission on the investigation into Langridges death, concluded his family was disrespected, ignored and given potentially misleading information.

Master of ceremonies Rick Streifel, himself a veteran, reminded those present that 70 of the Canadian deaths in Afghanistan were the result of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).Canada has the highest lifetime PTSD prevalence rate out of 16 countries worldwide, Streifel said.

Those that fell were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters brothers and sisters, Streifel said.

And today we have gathered here to show their families, the Memorial Cross recipients of this province, that they, as well as their families, will never be forgotten.

The other Silver Cross families present were Ann and Garry Bason, Sian and Brad Lisuer, Diane Street and Nancy and Allan Mansell.

The ride started at Trev Deeley in Vancouver before heading up up Hwy 1 en route to the Derek Doubleday Park off Fraser Hwy in Langley for the memorial service

The Walk to Remember was built in 2012 as a result of the efforts of two Langley students, sister and brother Elizabeth and Michael Pratt.

The two formed Langley Youth for the Fallen in 2011 to promote their dream of establishing the memorial grove.

Through sponsorships and partnerships with the Township of Langley, Arboretum and Botanical Society of Langley, Rotary clubs, Veterans Affairs Canada, and other community groups, 158 trees were planted along the Walk one for every Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Saluting the Langley memorial. Dan Ferguson Langley Times

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VIDEO: A trip to Langley to honour Canada's Afghanistan soldiers ... - Surrey Now-Leader

"And if so, maybe this is a Trump maybe it's a Trump strategy of actually supporting one group against another, considering that you have two terrorist organizations."

One day after 17 people died in an apparent ISIS attack in Iran, a California congressman questioned whether such an event might be a "good thing," and appeared to suggest that the United States might be able to collaborate with the terrorist group.

"Isn't it a good thing for us to have the United States finally backing up Sunnis who will attack Hezbollah and the Shia threat to us? Isn't that a good thing?" Rohrabacher asked a panel of terrorism experts assembled for a House hearing on Hezbollah financing Thursday.

"Maybe this is a Trump maybe it's a Trump strategy of actually supporting one group against another considering that you have two terrorist organizations," he added.

The remarks were a reference to a pair of deadly rampages in Tehran Wednesday, in which attackers laid siege inside Iran's parliament building and outside the tomb of the Islamic Republic founder's Ayatollah Khomeini. The attacks the first claimed by ISIS in Iran left 17 people dead and dozens more injured.

A representative for Rohrabacher did not immediately respond to requests for comment, or to explain the congressman's comments.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, the White House expressed condolences for the attack, while also suggesting that Iran had brought the attack on itself.

"We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times," the statement read. "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."

Two terrorism experts testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday quickly shot down Rohrabacher's idea.

"Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic state," said Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. "It's never in our interest to support a group like the Islamic State."

But Rohrabacher seemed to press on, trying to interrupt Levitt multiple times to ask "even when...."

"That's like, Joe Stalin was a horrible guy, we must never associated with horrible guys like that, even to get Hitler," Rohrabacher finally said. "So, maybe it's a good idea to have radical Muslim terrorists fighting each other, and I'll leave it at that."

Another witness then chimed in his disagreement.

"Having coordinated the economic warfare plan against the Islamic State, I would not condone an attack by the Islamic State," said terror financing expert David Asher. "I would be determined to destroy them."

The National Iranian American Council also condemned the congressman's comments, calling them callous and bizarre.

"Rohrabacher has a long history of bizarre and offensive statement son Iran, but his callousness toward the Iranian victims of ISIS terror might be his most callous and extreme thus far," the organization said in a statement.

Read more:
This California Congressman Asked If A Terror Attack In Iran Might Be "A Good Thing" - BuzzFeed News

In the wake of two deadly terrorist attacks that targeted the Iranian Parliament and the Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in Tehran, security sources have pointed to Iranian Kurds affiliated with ISIS as the likely perpetrators. While Iranian authorities arrested 41 people in connection to the attacks on Friday, only one attacker, Serias Sadeghi, has been identified. Sadeghi is an Iranian Kurd from Paveh, a city in western Iran, and has been cited as a prominent recruiter for ISIS in Iranian Kurdistan.

Wednesdays attacks occurred simultaneously at around 10:30 a.m. during the middle of Ramadan, an annual, month-long observance among Muslims that commemorates the first revelation of the prophet Muhammad. It is not uncommon for ISIS to carry out attacks at this time, as militants seek the honor of obtaining martyrdom during the holy month of jihad. In the first attack, a team of four people carrying assault rifles and wearing suicide vests attempted to enter the administrative building of the Iranian Parliament. The attackers shot at some and kidnapped others, with one attacker running loose on the streets of Tehran. Eventually, one of the attackers detonated his vest, while the remaining three were killed in a shoot-out with police officers.

The second attack consisted of two people entering the Imam Khomeini Mausoleum, a tribute to the founder of the Islamic Republic that houses the remains of numerous political figures. In a nearly-identical scenario, one of the attackers, a female suicide bomber, blew up her vest, while the other was killed in a shoot-out. On Wednesday, The Guardians Simon Tisdall provided an analogy to explain the significance of the attack. For Iranians, he said, the attack on Khomeinis tomb is the equivalent of somebody trying to blow up the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In total, at least 12 people were killed and 46 wounded. In a video posted Thursday on Amaq News, the ISIS media channel, five men and their leader, who some believe to be Sadeghi, claimed responsibility for both attacks. The men can be heard speaking in Arabic and Kurdish, lending credence to the all-but-confirmed theory that Iranian Kurds were behind the incident. This is a message from the soldiers of Islamic State in Iran, soldiers of the first brigade of Islamic State in Iran which, God willing, wont be the last, the leader in the video says. This brigade will mark the start of jihad in Iran, and we call on our Muslim brothers to join us.

While the attacks represent ISISs first strike inside Iran, the nation has long been a suspected target of the Islamic State. In March, the group released a video saying they would conquer Iran and restore it to the Sunni Muslim nation as it was before. The majority of Iranian citizens are Shiites, whom ISIS regards as apostates. ISIS, on the other hand, subscribes to a strict version of Sunni Islam that comprises a mere five percent of Irans population. The fact that Wednesdays attackers were most likely Sunni Iranian Kurds could signal the beginning of a larger insurgency within the nation. Indeed, that seems to be ISISs very goal. On Friday, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, an Arabic affairs analyst, told The New York Times that the border towns and villages and tribes along Irans east, west, and southern borders are poor and vulnerable to extremism, with young unemployed men particularly susceptible to recruitment.

Even with ISIS claiming responsibility for the attacks, Iranian officials have been quick to blame the incident on their international rivals: Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.S. On Friday, Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the attacks would only increase hatred for the governments of the United States and their stooges in the region like the Saudis. While the White House said it was grieving and praying over the victims of the attacks, it scornfully noted that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote. In a Thursday tweet, Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called the statement repugnant, arguing that the terrorist incident was backed by U.S. clients. Iranian people reject such U.S. claims of friendship, he added.

This sentiment was shared by a number of Iranians during the nations prayers on Friday. The Times reports that Friday worshippers shouted Death to Saudi Arabia and Death the United States, Britain, and Israel. Meanwhile, a speaker proclaimed that America and Saudi Arabia could not get anything from their proxy wars, so they decided to bring the war here, inside Iran. But the problem at stake remains even bigger than this deep-seated international rivalry: In their video released Thursday, ISIS suggested that Saudi Arabia could be next.

Read more:
Iranian Kurds Likely Responsible for ISIS Attacks in Tehran - The Atlantic