General still believes in Santa, counterinsurgency
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gen. John Nicholson wrote just one thing on his Christmas list which he mailed to his hero, Santa Claus: A stable Afghanistan built through comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its root causes.
“I keep giving him metrics that make it look like U.S. Forces are accomplishing something,” said Col. Miles Vanden, Nicholson's military aide. “It’s just so cute when he believes, so I can’t quite tell him the progress isn’t real. I’m just going to let him keep it going a few more years. It’s so sad when the magic dies.”
Nicholson has spent nearly two years in Afghanistan leading all coalition troops as they “turn the corner” in preparing Afghans to self-govern through mentorship and security force assistance. This year on Christmas Eve, Nicholson has already planned to leave out cookies and milk for Santa, knowing he’ll reward him with new force levels and maybe a competent NATO counterpart.
“I’ve heard …
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