{"id":25066,"date":"2017-08-26T16:43:13","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T16:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/26\/pakistans-trump-card-over-trumps-afghanistan-strategy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:09:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:09:58","slug":"pakistans-trump-card-over-trumps-afghanistan-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2017\/08\/26\/pakistans-trump-card-over-trumps-afghanistan-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s trump card over Trump’s Afghanistan strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 When U.S. President Donald Trump took the stage Aug. 21 to lay out his new strategy for Afghanistan, he made it clear that a key part of the policy will be pushing Pakistan to change its ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan, Trump said, often provides \u201csafe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror,\u201d later adding that \u201cwe have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan is a two-way street, and the Pakistanis have something the U.S. and its allies view as vital \u2013 control over supply lines for materiel into Afghanistan, known as the ground lines of communication, or GLOC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A senior administration official, speaking on background, acknowledged that the GLOC is \u201cvery important\u201d to American interests, but pointed out that there are alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those cases, \u201cWe\u2019ve had to rely more on Northern Route,\u201d the official said, referring to a series of routes that run through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. \u201cThose are certainly more expensive and not the best option, so we do count on those lines of communication through Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t