{"id":70264,"date":"2018-05-30T19:38:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T19:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/30\/why-should-the-us-stay-in-afghanistan-the-commander-of-coalition-forces-offers-his-views-as-he-departs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:21:08","slug":"why-should-the-us-stay-in-afghanistan-the-commander-of-coalition-forces-offers-his-views-as-he-departs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/05\/30\/why-should-the-us-stay-in-afghanistan-the-commander-of-coalition-forces-offers-his-views-as-he-departs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why should the US stay in Afghanistan? Here\u2019s what the top commander there said."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Find out the answer during an exchange between Pentagon bureau chief Tara Copp and Gen. John Nicholson at a VTC briefing from Afghanistan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

It\u2019s been two years since Army Gen. John Nicholson assumed command<\/a> of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He led the mission as President Donald Trump authorized changes to allow for more offensive operations against the Taliban and announced a new South Asia strategy that aims to ultimately bring reconciliation and a negotiated peace to Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicholson\u2019s tenure comes to an end amid highly visible gains, such as the Afghan Air Force launching and sustaining their own air operations<\/a>. However, it also comes amid reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction<\/a> that Taliban forces have increased the percent of Afghanistan they control, and that the numbers of trained Afghan security forces have declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Army Lt. Gen. Scott Miller<\/a> would serve as the next top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a teleconference from Kabul with Pentagon reporters Tuesday, Military Times asked Nicholson why, after 17 years, the U.S. should continue to send its sons and daughters to Afghanistan? Why should the U.S. military stay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks for the question,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important, and it\u2019s been a long war.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a threat from this region to our homeland. So our choice is fairly simple: We either keep the pressure on them here, or they bring the fight to our doorstep,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A U.S. Army crew chief surveys the area over Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Jan. 25, 2018. (Staff Sgt. Kellen Stuart\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nicholson stressed that since U.S. forces first arrived in October 2001, \u201cour country has not been attacked from Afghanistan.\u201d There are still more than 20 designated terrorist organizations that operate in Afghanistan, including the Islamic State-Khorasan, which took root in Afghanistan around 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Afghanistan has not yet been able to stabilize, it\u2019s meant those terror organizations have had ample population to recruit from, Nicholson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\t