New Defense chief signals potential troop drawdown: ‘All wars must end’

11/17/20
 
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from The Hill,
11/14/20:

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller signaled a potential U.S. troop reduction ahead in the Middle East in a memo sent to agency staff on Friday, saying, “All wars must end.”

Miller, who took over as Defense chief after President Trump fired Pentagon head Mark Esper via tweet this week, wrote that “we are not a people of perpetual war” while acknowledging that current conflicts are not over.

“As we prepare for the future, we remain committed to finishing the war that Al Qaida brought to our shores in 2001. This war isn’t over,” Miller said, referring to the war in Afghanistan.
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“We are on the verge of defeating Al Qaida and its associates, but we must avoid our past strategic error of failing to see the fight through to the finish. Indeed, this fight has been long, our sacrifices have been enormous, and many are weary of war – I’m one of them,” he continued.

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