With war fatigue finally setting in a generation into the US occupation of Afghanistan, there is talk of negotiating a peace deal, or withdrawing. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford opposes this idea.

Gen. Dunford argued that the US has to staying Afghanistan “to contain terrorists,” otherwise there would be another 9/11. He pointed to the last 17 years of occupation as having disrupted such plots.

Dunford’s position seems to set out permanent war as a reality for Afghanistan, with no real end game even being sought. With the war being lost at an alarming rate, it’s not clear how long this could drag on.

Yet Dunford dismissed concerns about how bad the situation in Afghanistan is, saying that his priority isn’t security and stability in Afghanistan, but to protect “the American people, the homeland, and our allies.”