Standing up Afghan Army is Like ‘Trying to Build Airplane While in Flight; Gen. Nicholson

U.S. and coalition forces have been in Afghanistan for 15 years since the 9/11 attacks. Though their numbers have drastically decreased as the U.S. has trained Afghan security forces, it is not easy to build an army in the middle of a war.

Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan says continuing to build the Afghan Army while it fights the Taliban is like “building an airplane while in flight.

“We’re trying to build an airplane while in flight, OK? So they’re fighting a war while we’re trying to build an army. This is very hard. When you look at the histories of any of our Western coalition force members who are here, they have had a similar long journey to build the professional armies that we have today. And so this is primarily the challenge, casualties, the need to develop leaders, the need to develop systems where none previously existed. So, it does take time,” said Gen. John Nicholson, US, NATO commander in Afghanistan.

Within the past year, the Taliban briefly captured Kunduz city in the North this summer, this summer besieged Lashkar Gah in the south, and this week threatened Tirin Kot in Central Afghanistan, reporter, JENNIFER GLASSE said.

” When you look at the population and district control, the Afghans control about 68 percent of the population and about 62 percent of the districts. The Taliban control about 10 percent of the population and 10 percent of the districts; 25 percent of the country is contested. It’s in play,” Nicholson said.

The Taliban aren’t the only threat in Afghanistan, said GLASSE.

” Of the 60 designated terrorist organizations that the U.S. has identified, 10 of them reside in this region. So, our presence here enables us to keep pressure on those organizations and prevent another 9/11,” Gen. Nicholson added in her response.