It’s been nearly four years since Admiral Stavridis took over at U.S. European Command, and a few days later as commander of NATO operations worldwide.Since then, he has made numerous visits to Afghanistan to provide strategic guidance to troops and commanders from dozens of countries, and to monitor progress.But four years later - and after more than 11 years of Western military involvement, thousands of casualties and billions of dollars spent -he can muster only ‘cautious’ optimism that in the end the Afghanistan effort will succeed.“I think we've gone, over the four years that I've been in command, that I can speak to personally,from a period of time in which I had doubts about our ability to succeed to today, when I think we will succeed.And I remain cautiously optimistic that we will,” said Stavridis.That optimism is based in large part on what the admiral sees as significant improvements in the Afghan security forces,which showed him some of what they can do during a visit two years ago.More broadly, he said Afghanistan’s civilian society also is changing for the better.Meanwhile, Taliban attacks continue in several parts of the country.But the admiral said that when foreign troops, except for trainers and counter-terrorism experts, leave at the end of next year,the Taliban’s ability to convince Afghans to help them will be severely reduced.“The Taliban narrative throughout this period, throughout this decade, has been 'we're fighting the foreigners.' And that was their rallying call. Well, guess what.
