In addition to the Taliban, US and Afghan forces are now fighting an aggressive branch of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
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Gen. Nicholson appeared poised to win confirmation and could be headed to… “The difference with Afghanistan is we have a very capable and willing partner”.
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He said that they are not going to be ready in three or five years. “By now, we should have learned from the precipitous withdrawal from Iraq and the disaster that ensued that wars do not end because politicians say so”, McCain charged. “It’s a sanctuary that our enemies, in particular the Haqqani Network, have enjoyed inside Pakistan”, he said responding to a question from Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Committee.
The spokesman said Defense Secretary Ash Carter was “absolutely confident” in the man Obama meant to nominate to succeed Gen. John Campbell.
Just over one year ago, the United States and NATO-led mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan operation, with allied nations assisting in training and equipping local forces to tackle Taliban and other groups.
Comparing the 15-year-old war in Afghanistan to conflicts in Germany and Korea is not fully accurate, since those conflicts concluded with an unconditional surrender and a formal armistice.
While Nicholson was careful to not advocate for an open-ended presence in Afghanistan, he placed the continued American presence there within the context of an “enduring” and “global” counterterrorism mission.
A blunt Pentagon report released last month said the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated in the second half of 2015, with Taliban militants staging more attacks and inflicting far more casualties on Afghan forces. Ghani took office in September 2014 and Campbell has said publicly that the new president’s approach to the war effort and that of his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, were like “night and day”, from the US point of view. Al Qaeda is reestablishing itself in southern Afghanistan. He has served several tours of duty in Afghanistan and also commanded the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division.
USA troops entered Afghanistan in 2001.
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“We need to prevent Kandahar from falling into the hands of the Taliban”, the general said. Senior American commanders who spent almost a decade and hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money building the Iraqi Army have been shocked at how little of that force remains today. His uncle, retired Army Col. Jim Nicholson, served as VA secretary under President George W. Bush.
