Pressures on Taliban and their enablers to rise: Gen. Nicholson

AVA- Speaking to reporters in Pentagon through video teleconference, Gen. Nicholson said  Afghanistan and the coalition will use three forms of pressure to make this happen, he added: military pressure, diplomatic pressure and social pressure.

Afghan security forces will apply the military pressure, the general told reporters, aided by coalition advisors and air assets. That pressure will increase in the next year as new Afghan capabilities come on line and as U.S. and coalition advisers embed with smaller units, he said.

Meanwhile, he said, Afghan and coalition officials will apply diplomatic pressure on the enablers of the Taliban and the Haqqani networks, and social pressure will be applied through elections over the next two years. If done credibly, Nicholson said, these pressures will enhance the legitimacy of the government in the eyes of the people.

“In the face of this pressure, the Taliban cannot win,” Nicholson said. “Their choices are to reconcile, live in irrelevance, or die.”

The United States and coalition must realign resources and to execute this strategy, the general said. “I’d point out that the military effort is necessary but, by itself, not sufficient for success,” he said. “We must work together with all of the parts of the U.S. government and the coalition in order to be successful.”