Posted on 07/12/2019 8:03:50 AM PDT by robowombat
Nominee for Top US General: Afghan Withdrawal Would Be 'Strategic Mistake'
July 11, 2019
President Donald Trump's nominee for the top military officer of the United States says leaving Afghanistan prematurely would be a "strategic mistake," as the U.S. and the Taliban are negotiating a potential peace settlement to end nearly two decades of war.
"I think it is slow, it's painful, it's hard. I spent a lot of my life in Afghanistan, but I also think it's necessary," Army Gen. Mark Milley, the current Army Chief of Staff and nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hearing Thursday.
Milley said he saw "progress" in the peace negotiations meant to bring the war to an end.
A deal between the U.S. and the Taliban has been expected to be centered on a U.S. promise to withdraw foreign troops in exchange for a Taliban pledge not to let Afghanistan be used as a base for terrorism.
Milley on Iran
When questioned on Iran, Milley said Tehran's "intensity of malign activity" has increased since the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (JCPOA) that was signed in 2015.
Milley also pointed out that Iran has "always been a malign actor," and that Iranian-backed terrorist organizations have killed U.S. troops in Iraq.
His comments come as Britain said Thursday three Iranian vessels unsuccessfully tried to impede the passage of a British commercial vessel through the Strait of Hormuz but were turned away after "verbal warnings" from a British navy ship accompanying the vessel.
"We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region," the British government said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has denied the allegations.
Iran and Iranian-backed forces have been blamed for several recent incidents in the region, including attacks on several tankers, attacks on a Saudi airport, an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline and a rocket attack in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad's Green Zone.
President Trump said Wednesday he would soon "substantially" increase economic sanctions against Iran, as the U.S. accused Tehran of "nuclear extortion" by breaching the 2015 international pact aimed at curtailing its nuclear weapons development.
Iran has acknowledged it is now enriching uranium beyond the limits of the accord Trump withdrew from last year and keeping a bigger stockpile than it was allowed.
Despite the war in Afghanistan and the increased tensions with Iran, Milley said his biggest concern was "modernization and recapitalization of the nation's nuclear triad."
The nuclear triad is the U.S. military's ability to respond to threats with nuclear weapons by air, sea and land via bombers, submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"There are many reasons why there hasn't been a great-power war since 1945. Clearly one of them is nuclear deterrence," Milley said, adding that the international order is "currently under the most stress since the end of the Cold War."
The Never-ending War mustn’t end.
Leave and eradicate the poppy fields on the way out.
Someone want to explain why afganapakistan is a place the U.S. wants to send our troops to?
Should have never set foot in Afghanistan.
A month of B-52 raids daily would have done as much as was needed.
Tell that to American families losing kids in the military in Afghanistan
You got to keep the global war on something going....come on...do your part!
To whom?
The people at the top, secretly aligned with the DRUG TRADE..?
End the friggin war(s) NOW. if they act up saturation bomb them ala Sit Arthur (Bomber) Harris or Curtis (bombs-away) LeMay.
Waste of lives , you’ll never change a thing
SIR not SIT
What exactly is the goal in this war? Shouldn't we have a goal in mind when we commit troops? Shouldn't we support the troops with all the resources we can muster, completely destroy the enemy, and then go home? Shouldn't the commitment of our troops demand a commitment from Congress in the form of a Declaration of War?
We can’t leave and we can’t stay.
My goal would be to declare victory and leave.
What’s the strategy?
In 2001 I suggested the same, coupled with a complete travel ban on Muslims from most countries of South Asia, Mid-East and North Africa.
Even back then, our only concern in Af-Pak was that its a Muslim terrorist hotbed. Keep them all out of the US, and the problem drops to zero.
This statement alone means the man is not qualified for the position and no further consideration should be given him.
The idea that there ever was world peace is false.
Large scale wars have been avoided since the end of WWII.
The number of U.S. casualties in even the hottest Cold Ward conflicts, such as Korea and Vietnam, have been very small compared to WWII.
The entire world, and the U.S. particularly, has enjoyed unprecedented growth and prosperity since WWII.
The U.S. picked up the global ball after the British Empire could no longer carry it after WWII.
To people who plan to have a well paying post-retirement VP gig with a government contractor.
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