Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers walk in Helmand on December 21, 2015. Clashes intensified on December 21 as the Taliban pressed an offensive to capture a key district in Helmand, a day after an official warned that the entire southern province was on the brink of collapse. Local residents reported crippling food shortages in Sangin district, heartland of the opium harvest and long seen as a hornet's nest of insurgent activity, after the Taliban began storming government buildings on December 20. AFP PHOTO / Noor Mohammad / AFP / NOOR MOHAMMAD (Photo credit should read NOOR MOHAMMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Lt. Gen. Shir Mohammad Karimi, General Chief of Staff of Operations for the Afghan National Army, congratulates newly-promoted Maj. Gen. John "Mick" Nicholson after affixing his two-star rank to his uniform. Nicholson, deputy chief of staff for operations with the International Security Assistance Force, asked Karimi to participate in his promotion as a sign of partnership between coalition and Afghan military leaders. Nicholson's promotion took place at the Ministry of Defense in Kabul before a senior leader security meeting. (Photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Lorie Jewell) (Released)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 09: U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter testifies during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee December 9, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on the U.S. strategy to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and U.S. policy toward Iraq and Syria. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
FT. BRAGG, NC - DECEMBER 22: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, leaves a military courthouse on December 22, 2015 in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Bergdahl was arraigned on charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by the Taliban and spent five years in captivity before being freed in a prisoner exchange. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)
