
After 17 years of war, top US commander in Afghanistan admits Taliban cannot be defeated
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– First published … November 02, 2018 –
In his first interview since taking command of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in September, Gen. Austin Scott Miller provided NBC News with a surprisingly candid assessment of the seemingly never-ending conflict, which began with the US invasion of Afghanistan in October, 2001.
“This is not going to be won militarily. This is going to a political solution,” Miller said. He mused that the Taliban is also tired of fighting and may be interested in starting to “work through the political piece” of the 17-year-old war.
But it’s not clear if the Taliban is open to negotiations. Last month, a top Taliban commander told RT, in a rare interview, that the group’s leaders had no desire to negotiate with the Americans.
Described for years as a stalemate, the conflict has been tipping in the Taliban’s favor in recent months. Even by US military estimates, the Afghan government controls or influences just over half of the country’s 407 districts – a record low since the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, began tracking district control in November 2015.
To make matters worse, casualties among Afghan government forces have skyrocketed in recent months. Afghan security forces suffered 1,000 fatalities in August and September, according to the Pentagon.
READ MORE: US veterans overwhelmingly want troops out of Afghanistan – poll
Miller’s desire for a political settlement was echoed earlier by the State Department, which said in August that the US was doing everything it could to facilitate peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The new US commander has experienced the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan first-hand. In October, Miller survived a Taliban attack in Kandahar, which left a prominent Afghan warlord and local intelligence chief dead.

Jim W. Dean is Managing Editor of Veterans Today involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.
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Criminal General LYNCH who will only receive a 6 month sentence for his crimes against the USA, (some call it treason) while a citizens with a few
ounces of marijuana would be sentenced years in prison and years on parole,
I have been told by a parolee that his weekly cost of reporting to his
parole officer was $45.00 per vist ?????
Don’t forget the opium and REE’s.
Didn´t in 1935 General Smedley Butler already told us about “War is a racket” ? How often must it been repeated to us ? There is nothing new under the sun. Bis repitita non semper placuit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket
End the war and get out of there. Find a proxy to take over negotiations. Maybe the Pakistani’s.
The longest war in US history will be remembered as a stupid idea and an unwarranted illegal occupation.
The Afghans never attacked us. Our military should not be used for corporate conquest. Disgusting.
Bush and Cheney should be hung for crimes against humanity and war crimes, that would send a clear message to the next president to think with their brain and not their Dick.
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