Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lt. Gen. Austin Scott Miller claimed that he was seeing “progress” in the US war in Afghanistan. He admitted, however, that 17 years of war “is a very long time.”
Lt. Gen. Miller is nominated to be the latest in a long line of commanders for the occupation of Afghanistan. Gen. John Nicholson, the outgoing commander, has also claimed progress recently, even though data suggests that the conflict has just gotten worse.
Still, Miller insisted that the war was in “the vital interests of national security,” and warned Congress that if the war was ended, ISIS would establish a presence and use the region to plan attacks against the US.
ISIS, of course, already has a presence in Afghanistan, established wholly during the US occupation, and which the US has proven entirely incapable of displacing. In fact, the Afghan government controls less territory now than at any time since the 2001 US invasion.
Miller, who is currently the head of Joint Special Operations Command, showed little sign of planning any changes in the war. Instead, he seemed to be eager to continue the 17-year-long narrative that progress was going to happen at some point in the future, while laying the ground work for blaming Pakistan when the progress doesn’t materialize.
Why not just make a recording of how we are progressing and every time a new general takes over just play the tape for congress.
six more months!
Reminds me of the Vietnam era: “Would the last Marine to leave Vietnam please turn out the light at the end of the tunnel?” It was scribbled on the wall of a latrine.
What was he expected to say-“we are not making progress, we are in a quagmire?”
See my response to previous article relating to Afghanistan.
When I click Discuss to find your comments, I founnd you set your comments to “private”….
Most US generals are pretty stupid. This far-away, mountainous country Afghanistan full of tribal, illiterate people is of vital interest to US national security? The command of a war is vital to his mistaken idea of self-importance, is all.
Time is UP…!!!!!!! There is a story gaining gaining ground that some government insiders have found double digit TRILLIONS of missing dollars over at the Pentagon & HUD… TRY GOOGLE, “MISSING 21 trillion”….
Comgress should freeze ALL war funding untill the Pentagon comes clean on the whereabouts of the newly discovered missing trillions.
This guy should retire from the military and take his Lieutenant General pension. Then he can move on to being a paid — highly paid — shill for the military industrial complex. Probably make substantially more money.
The military is a builder of Yes Men. The way you get promoted is by agreeing with your Superior officer, not by challenging his judgment and command authority. “Sir, yes sir!” is the way to build a career in the military. Until finally, the most diligent and obsequious of the fruit-salad bedecked suck-ups ascend to the lofty heights of general officer.