President Donald Trump’s pick to take over command of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Scott Miller, was confirmed by voice vote Thursday night as part of a batch of military nominations the Senate confirmed before heading home for a weeklong recess, The Washington Times reported.
Miller’s confirmation came after a hearing before a committee where he was questioned on his plans to turn around the 17-year-old war.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren pushed Miller the hardest on the issue, quoting several past defense leaders as saying Afghanistan reached a turning point.
“We’ve supposedly turned the corner so many times that it seems now we’re going in circles,” Warren said. “So let me just ask you, do you envision turning another corner during your tenure as commander? After 17 years of war, what are you going to do differently to bring this conflict to an end?”
Miller replied by acknowledging the length of the war, saying “that’s generational.”
“I can’t guarantee you a timeline or an end date. I know that going into this position. Or offer necessarily a turning point, unless there is one unless there’s something to report back and something has changed,” he continued.
Miller previously was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, his responsibilities included overseeing elite Special Mission Units such as the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and the Army’s Delta Force.
Miller will take over command of the war about a year into the Trump administration’s new strategy.
Last summer, President Trump announced a strategy that included increasing U.S. forces in Afghanistan by a few thousand to help end a stalemate. Trump’s strategy also took away a timeline for withdrawal, saying it would be based on the conditions on the ground.
The United States has 16,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan on a mission of advising and assisting Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban as well as missions against groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Be the first to comment