U.S. general sets two-year goal for driving back Afghan Taliban

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#WORLD NEWS NOVEMBER 20, 2017 / 12:46 PM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO

U.S. general sets two-year goal for driving back Afghan Taliban

Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali
4 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said on Monday he believes he could help Afghan forces drive back the Taliban enough to control at least 80 percent of the country within two years, compared with about two-thirds today.

General John Nicholson, citing counter-insurgency doctrine, said gaining 80 percent control of the country would represent a turning point in the 16-year-old conflict, which has become the longest U.S war.

“This we believe is the critical mass necessary to drive the enemy to irrelevance, meaning they’re living in these remote outlying areas, or they reconcile, or they die,” Nicholson told a Pentagon news briefing via video conference from Afghanistan.

His remarks carried echoes of a U.S.-led strategy that began in 2009 and was accompanied by a massive surge in U.S. forces, which peaked in 2011 at more than 100,000 troops.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa/u-s-general-sets-two-year-goal-for-driving-back-afghan-taliban-idUSKBN1DK25O

[J_William_Ryan]

1. And then what.

What’s the timetable for a complete withdraw of American forces – if the Pentagon were honest the answer would be ‘never.’

[MattP]

2. The complex must feed

[msongs]

3. top brass has had14 yrs to do this and failed they should all be fired nt

[old guy]

4. Dream on cat crap,

somebody will come along and cover you up.

[kacekwl]

5. What happened to trumps

6 month or whatever plan to defeat ISIS ?