Top U.S. General Has Misgivings As The U.S. - NATO Afghanistan Mission Ends

Photo: Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson. ISAF

U.S. General Has Misgivings as Afghanistan Mission Ends -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Shortly after the speeches concluded, the flags were folded and the band silenced, the last American general to lead combat operations in Afghanistan offered his candid assessment of the war.

“I don’t know if I’m pessimistic or optimistic,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, the departing commander, considering the United States military’s reduced role next year. “The fact that we are in less places, the fact that there are less of us as a coalition, is obviously concerning.”

In an interview Monday in his office after the lowering of the flag that signaled the official end of the coalition’s war-fighting mission, General Anderson offered a nuanced take on the final year of America’s longest war.

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My Comment: Even outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stumped in explaining what may happen next in Afghanistan .... Hagel Stumped By Soldier Asking if Afghanistan Will Fall Apart Like Iraq (NRO).