Small Wars Journal

New General Takes Over in Afghanistan Amid Questions About the US Military’s Future There

Sat, 09/01/2018 - 9:47am

New General Takes Over in Afghanistan Amid Questions About the US Military’s Future There by Missy Ryan, Dan Lamothe and Paul Sonne – Washington Post

Army Lt. Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller faces a stark central question as he becomes the United States’ newest commander in Afghanistan this weekend: With local forces struggling and questions swirling about President Trump’s support for the war, how long will America persist?

Miller, a respected veteran of some of the U.S. military’s most secretive combat units, takes the reins at a time of intense skepticism about what can be accomplished in a 17-year-old war. His mission to bring the United States’ longest war to a close is made more difficult by political upheaval in Kabul and Trump’s ambivalence about costly foreign wars.

Miller will be the first commander whose mission is as much diplomatic as military, as the Taliban’s resilience fuels a new drive to secure a peace deal allowing for a dignified U.S. drawdown.

“Throughout the ups and downs of this conflict, it’s become evident that the United States is not going to defeat the Taliban insurgency, even though it can prevent a Taliban victory,” said Laurel E. Miller, a former senior official who is now at the Rand Corp…

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