red states rule
10-27-2009, 06:18 AM
John Kerry, who served in Viet Nam, is saying that Gen McChrystal's request for 40,000 more troops to win the war in Afghanistan goes "to far, too fast"
As with Iraq, Kerry wants defeat in Afghanistan, and is now leading to retreat publicly for Obama
McChrystal's Call for Additional Troops Goes 'Too Far, Too Fast,' Kerry Warns
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Monday he doubts the U.S. has reliable Afghan forces to partner with but doesn't want to add 40,000 more U.S. troops to conduct counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal's proposal to send 40,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast," Sen. John Kerry warned Monday.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that three conditions must be met before the Obama administration decides to deploy more troops to the region: assurance that the Afghan forces are reliable enough to partner with U.S. troops, assistance from the country's local leaders, and the cooperation and support of the Afghan people.
"Under the right circumstances, if we can be confident that military efforts can be sustained and built upon, then I would support the President should he decide to send some additional troops to regain the initiative," Kerry told the Council of Foreign Relations.
Kerry said that while he believes McChrystal understands "the necessity of conducting a smart counterinsurgency in a limited geographic area," his current plan to send additional troops to the region "reaches too far, too fast."
"We have already begun implementing a counterinsurgency strategy, but I believe that right now it needs to be as narrowly focused as possible. We must be very wary of overextension," he said.
Kerry's position would appear to rebut anti-war Democrats and others who question calls to deepen the U.S. stake in the country. At the same time, the Democratic senator would not endorse a major military increase as advocated by the commanding U.S. general in Afghanistan.
Kerry said the U.S. does not have the "critical guarantees of governance and development capacity."
"I also have serious concerns about the ability to produce effective Afghan forces to partner with, so we can ensure that when our troops make heroic sacrifices, the benefits to the Afghans are clear and sustainable," he said.
Kerry, who returned Wednesday from a seven-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, also criticized the Bush administration for neglecting the eight-year-old war, saying, "You cannot understate the degree to which the Bush administration turned its back on Afghanistan completely."
Speaking of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who recently criticized President Obama's approach to redefining military strategy in Afghanistan, Kerry said that Cheney had boasted in 2002 that "the Taliban regime was out of business permanently."
"This is one time I wish he was right," Kerry said.
Kerry was responding to recent remarks from Cheney, in which the former vice president blasted Obama for "dithering" over the decision to send additional troops to the region.
As Obama weighs his options on the military side, the State Department said Monday it was on track to meet the goal of tripling the size of U.S. civilian workersr in Afghanistan by year's end or very early 2010.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/26/kerry-major-troop-pullout-trigger-civil-war-afghanistan/
As with Iraq, Kerry wants defeat in Afghanistan, and is now leading to retreat publicly for Obama
McChrystal's Call for Additional Troops Goes 'Too Far, Too Fast,' Kerry Warns
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Monday he doubts the U.S. has reliable Afghan forces to partner with but doesn't want to add 40,000 more U.S. troops to conduct counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal's proposal to send 40,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast," Sen. John Kerry warned Monday.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that three conditions must be met before the Obama administration decides to deploy more troops to the region: assurance that the Afghan forces are reliable enough to partner with U.S. troops, assistance from the country's local leaders, and the cooperation and support of the Afghan people.
"Under the right circumstances, if we can be confident that military efforts can be sustained and built upon, then I would support the President should he decide to send some additional troops to regain the initiative," Kerry told the Council of Foreign Relations.
Kerry said that while he believes McChrystal understands "the necessity of conducting a smart counterinsurgency in a limited geographic area," his current plan to send additional troops to the region "reaches too far, too fast."
"We have already begun implementing a counterinsurgency strategy, but I believe that right now it needs to be as narrowly focused as possible. We must be very wary of overextension," he said.
Kerry's position would appear to rebut anti-war Democrats and others who question calls to deepen the U.S. stake in the country. At the same time, the Democratic senator would not endorse a major military increase as advocated by the commanding U.S. general in Afghanistan.
Kerry said the U.S. does not have the "critical guarantees of governance and development capacity."
"I also have serious concerns about the ability to produce effective Afghan forces to partner with, so we can ensure that when our troops make heroic sacrifices, the benefits to the Afghans are clear and sustainable," he said.
Kerry, who returned Wednesday from a seven-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, also criticized the Bush administration for neglecting the eight-year-old war, saying, "You cannot understate the degree to which the Bush administration turned its back on Afghanistan completely."
Speaking of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who recently criticized President Obama's approach to redefining military strategy in Afghanistan, Kerry said that Cheney had boasted in 2002 that "the Taliban regime was out of business permanently."
"This is one time I wish he was right," Kerry said.
Kerry was responding to recent remarks from Cheney, in which the former vice president blasted Obama for "dithering" over the decision to send additional troops to the region.
As Obama weighs his options on the military side, the State Department said Monday it was on track to meet the goal of tripling the size of U.S. civilian workersr in Afghanistan by year's end or very early 2010.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/26/kerry-major-troop-pullout-trigger-civil-war-afghanistan/