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US commander: No need for major change in Afghan war plan as new general takes over

Military Times: The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said he doesn’t expect any major change in the Afghanistan war strategy this fall, as a new general takes over the campaign a year after the Trump administration unveiled a broad new plan to resolve the 17-year conflict.

Army Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters that the campaign to use military, social and political pressure to force the Taliban to the peace table is still valid. Incoming Afghanistan commander Army Gen. Scott Miller will make his own assessment of the war’s progress, Votel said, but while he may make tactical changes on the ground fight, “I don’t think that that will result in a relook at the strategy of the overall approach here.”

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