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Dhimmicrats resist Afghan troop increase
WASHINGTON Senate Democrats are signaling that any push by the White House for more troops in Afghanistan probably will run into resistance.
| And remember kids, the Dhimmicrats thought Afghanistan was the 'good war' ... |
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. must focus more on building Afghan security forces. That view was endorsed by Sen. Jack Reed, who is also on the committee and spent two days in Afghanistan this past week with Levin, D-Mich. Their unease follows a NATO airstrike early Friday on hijacked fuel tankers that killed as many as 70 people.
| That doesn't mean the airstrike caused their unease ... |
Congress returns to work in the week ahead, just as President Barack Obama receives a new military review of Afghanistan strategy. Officials expect it will be followed up by a request for at least a modest increase in U.S. troops battling insurgents in the 8-year-old war.
Obama came into office pledging to shift U.S. focus from the war in Iraq to the Afghan fight, which had long been a secondary priority. But as war-weary Americans have watched 21,000 more troops go to Afghanistan this year, and U.S. casualties rise, support for the war has waned.
| At least among Dhimmicrats who'd like to use the money for 'health care' and 'green jobs' ... |
As a result, lawmakers say they want the U.S. to more quickly train and equip the Afghan Army and police so the embattled country can take over its own security needs.
"There are a lot of ways to speed up the numbers and capabilities of the Afghan army and police. They are strongly motivated," Levin said from Kuwait. "I think that we should pursue that course ... before we consider a further increase in combat forces beyond what's already been planned to be sent in the months ahead."
Levin said there is a growing consensus on the need to expedite training and equipping the Afghan army to improve security in Afghanistan, where 51 U.S. troops died in August, making it the bloodiest month for American forces there since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
| As if we hadn't been doing this all along ... |
The hesitancy to boost troops levels comes just days after Obama's defense chief suggested a willingness to consider an increase. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has urged patience with the war effort, and said he would be comfortable with a larger U.S. military presence in Afghanistan as long as the increase reassured the country's citizens that the Americans were there for the benefit of Afghans.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-09-06 |
