Taliban cannot wait coalition out, smart option is to reconcile: U.S. general

“The answer in Afghanistan is reconciliation between the government and the Taliban. The war has continued for 17 years. NATO and coalition forces are in for the long haul, and the Taliban cannot hope to wait out the coalition. The smart option is to reconcile and rebuild Afghanistan together,” General Scott Miller said ahead of a two-day NATO Military Committee meeting that began on Saturday in Warsaw.
Miller, who took over as new commander of international troops in Afghanistan earlier this month, said that “each NATO nation has its own objectives, and then there are NATO objectives.”
“So you get a lot of different answers when you speak to the troops. But it all comes down to protecting the citizens at home,” Miller said.
The general reminded that the Taliban leaders had provided safe haven in Afghanistan to al-Qaida which carried out attacks 9/11 attacks in the U.S.
According to Miller, more than 1,100 NATO and coalition troops have lost their lives combating terrorism in Afghanistan over the last 17 years. “And this is not just an American conflict or problem. Terrorists have struck London, Madrid, Paris, Nice, Bali, the Philippines, Mumbai and many other cities and countries.”
He said that terror groups such as Daesh, al-Qaida and others have no role in a new Afghanistan. “Afghan security forces and coalition operators target those groups to crush them to erase their ideology,” Miller said.