By PAUL SZOLDRA
There has been a lot of progress happening inwards Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan over the 17 years the USA has been fighting in that location — at least, according to the Pentagon’s elevation armed forces minds. Despite the Taliban briefly seizing the metropolis of Ghazni earlier this month — hence sending a message to Afghans that their primal government, just 100 miles away inwards Kabul, can’t protect them — as well as a one-year-old strategy that hasn’t changed much on the soil inwards terms of command of districts, the elevation American commander has joined the chorus of other senior leaders highlighting progress achieved hence far. “So nosotros are seeing progress inwards damage of the Afghan capabilities; this is non a purely U.S. or coalition fight,” said Gen. John Nicholson, commanding full general of Operation Resolute Support as well as U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, in his terminal press briefing to reporters before he turns over the reins to Gen. Austin S. Miller on Sep. 2.
As Military.com put it, the outgoing commander was continuing the “tradition of hailing progress inwards Afghanistan,” as well as that tradition goes dorsum really far inwards the nearly-17-year-long war.
Take, for instance, Army Gen. John Abizaid, as well as then the commander of U.S. Central Command, dorsum inwards Feb 2005: “Afghanistan is a house where armed forces as well as economic, political as well as diplomatic activeness at both the national degree of the USA as well as also the international degree came together inwards a agency that, over the iii years that we’ve been operating there, has shown interesting progress.”
According to the Pentagon’s article on his two-day catch to Bagram Air Base, Abizaid claimed that progress inwards Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan was observable inwards “the institution of an elected Afghan government, reconstruction projects that showed some tangible progress, the cessation of hostilities after 25 years worth of hostilities inwards the vast bulk of the country, pretty effective counterinsurgency as well as counterterrorism activeness yesteryear coalition forces, as well as a full general belief, in all probability most importantly, yesteryear people of the province that things tin larn better.”
In March, Abizaid said he was “optimistic” nearly developments inwards Republic of Iraq as well as Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan as well as elsewhere inwards the Middle East. “I recall 2005 tin last a decisive year,” he said.
The optimistic torch was as well as then picked upward yesteryear Army Gen. Dan McNeill, who served equally commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2007 to 2008. “I’d similar to betoken out that in that location is important progress inwards the forrad motion of the Afghan National Army,” he told a reporter from Reuters on Sep. 12, 2007, who asked whether recent gains would Pb to less American involvement.
Although he cautioned that the Afghan armed forces wasn’t quite in that location yet, he argued that NATO was “an interim forcefulness inwards Afghanistan. And it’s a forcefulness to purchase fourth dimension as well as infinite to build the Afghan National Security Forces, as well as equally I’ve mistakenly answered your inquiry before, I stand upward yesteryear those responses. We’ve done really good alongside the Afghan National Army. We’ve done less good alongside the Afghan National Police as well as we’re going to demand them both to satisfy this.”
Army Gen. David McKiernan, shortly after assuming command inwards June 2008, was to a greater extent than circumspect nearly victory.
“We tin win all the tactical battles but that doesn’t hateful nosotros win. To win, nosotros arrive at got to win the battle of ideas,” he said. “We must define winning inwards Afghan terms: pregnant improved security, reduced civilian casualties, trustworthy government, economical as well as social progress.”
He was fired a yr later, apparently due to President Obama’s impatience alongside how the state of war was going.
Next upward was Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who The New York Times wrote inwards Feb 2010 offered a “guarded but unexpectedly upbeat assessment” of the state of war he assumed command of the previous summer.
“I am non prepared to order that nosotros arrive at got turned the corner,” McChrystal said. “So I’m proverb that the province of affairs is serious but I recall nosotros arrive at got made important progress inwards setting the weather condition inwards 2009, as well as start some progress, as well as that we’ll brand existent progress inwards 2010.”
Obama fired McChrystal shortly after a Rolling Stone article was published inwards which he as well as his staff had criticized elevation management officials. He was replaced yesteryear Army Gen. David Petraeus, who wrote to all members of the NATO Command in July 2010, “in the expression upward of an enemy willing to behaviour out the most barbaric of attacks, progress has been achieved inwards some critical areas, as well as nosotros are poised to realize more.”
Petraeus was also praised yesteryear politicians for his leadership inwards the war, equally Military.com noted:
In 2011, Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, praised Gen. David Petraeus for beingness “instrumental inwards turning the tide inwards Afghanistan,” the Washington Post reported. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., added that Petraeus’s leadership is “turning roughly the state of war inwards Afghanistan.”
“I larn out Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan today alongside the belief that if nosotros hold this momentum upward nosotros volition deliver a decisive blow to the enemy as well as plough the corner on this conflict,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said inwards June 2011, before leaving Kabul.
After Petraeus, in that location was Marine Gen. John Allen, who said in Feb. 2013, “I recall nosotros are on the route to winning,” before he turned over command to Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, who offered a to a greater extent than sober assessment than his predecessors.
“At this betoken nosotros arrive at got made important progress, but nosotros are non even so at the betoken where it is completely sustainable,” the electrical current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said inwards June 2013, although he reassured Americans that the smaller U.S. presence inwards Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan after 2014 would hateful “the actual fighting on a day-to-day soil will all last done yesteryear Afghans.”
Since the mission cite was changed from Operation Enduring Freedom to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, hence ending “combat operations inwards Afghanistan” on Dec. 31, 2014, in that location arrive at got been 52 service members killed as well as some other 318 arrive at got been wounded, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System.
“Together, nosotros arrive at got lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair as well as given them promise for the future,” Army Gen. John Campbell said inwards Dec. 2014. “We’re really proud of our human relationship — a human relationship built on trust, friendship, as well as shared interests. That trust as well as a mutual vision for a stable, secure, as well as unified Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan fills me alongside confidence that we’ll expire along to last successful. The route before us remains challenging, but nosotros volition triumph.”
Finally, in that location was Army Gen. John Nicholson. A few months after he took command inwards March 2016, he said, “I would order overall our mission inwards Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan is on a positive trajectory. I tin elaborate on that alongside y'all later, but hence far, inwards keeping alongside the drive innovation that I outlined, nosotros arrive at got seen the Afghans successfully defend each of these areas, largely yesteryear taking offensive operations against the enemy, as well as the Taliban has non even so been able to realize whatever of their territorial ambitions this year.”
Next month, Army Gen. Austin Miller assumes command of the war. He’ll last the 9th American inwards accuse of that effort, out of xviii total commanders inwards Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan since 2002.
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