Obama’s next Afghanistan cmdr. to review troop number

General Nicholson will replace Army Gen. John Campbell as top commander in Afghanistan.

“We still see attempts by terrorist organizations to get into Afghanistan”, Nicholson said.

Nicholson now commands NATO’s Allied Land Command, and had held several high-profile Army roles, including the commanding officer for the 82nd Airborne Division, and deputy commanding general for operations in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012.

In his testimony, the general stressed the need for a long-term, capabilities-based US presence in Afghanistan and said American security aid to the nation is rightly concentrated on the counterterrorism and the “train, advise and assist” missions.

Campbell told USA TODAY late last month that he wanted to maintain that troop level for as long as possible in 2016. He said they do have some shortcomings “that simply take years and years to develop” – such as such as intelligence collection and air support.

USA military commanders have warned the Obama administration that thousands of American troops could remain in Afghanistan for decades, says a report published on Wednesday.

He said that those threats have grown – with the the resurgence of the Taliban, the emergence of the so-called Islamic State and the growth of a branch of al-Qaeda in the Kandahar province.

“These are changes in conditions that I’ll need to evaluate, if we have the right amount of CT [counter-terrorism] capability”, Nicholson said.

John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the armed services committee, said it was time to “immediately halt USA troop withdrawals and eliminate any target date for withdrawal”.

The transition comes amid growing concern about the security situation in Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have caused large numbers of casualties among Afghan troops and Islamic State affiliates have made some inroads.

Wary of total collapse, Obama will leave 5,500 troops in Afghanistan past his presidency, with substantive reductions from the current 9,800-troop force backloaded until his final days in office.

Carter believes Nicholson understands the importance and complexity of the mission in Afghanistan, Cook said. The United States has had forces in Afghanistan since 2001.

Nicholson has compiled a storied military career, with perhaps more experience in Afghanistan and with joint allied forces than any other general. Before that he spent 14 months as director of the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan coordination cell.

“Because of that, we did not make the advances we projected we thought we would make”, he said.