US lawmakers divided over Obama’s Afghanistan plan

While the opposition Republican alleged that the withdrawal of troops would be premature,leaders of his Democratic party welcomed the decision.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid termed it as a critical step in the right direction,while Senator John Kerry,Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,said America’s ability to capitalise on the surge and bring home 33,000 troops over the next 15 months is a testament to the success of the strategy.

Senator Carl Levin,chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,said the decision represents a positive development,although in his view the conditions on the ground justify an even larger drawdown of US troops this year than announced. “Tonight,President Obama made it clear: we are now beginning the process of bringing our troops home and ending the war in Afghanistan,” Nancy Pelosi,the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives,said adding that the reduction is not fast enough.

But,some Republican leaders expressed unease that Obama had ignored the advice of the top US commander in Afghanistan,General David Petraeus,who had urged only modest withdrawals. “I am concerned that the withdrawal plan that President Obama announced poses an unnecessary risk to the hard-won gains that our troops have made thus far in Afghanistan and to the decisive progress that must still be made. This is not the ‘modest’ withdrawal that I and others had hoped for and advocated,” Senator John McCain said.

Mike Rogers,Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence also expressed concern about the plan to begin troop withdrawal in Afghanistan and said,”It seems the President is trying to find a political solution with a military component to it,when it needs to be the other way around.”

John Boehner,Speaker of the US House of Representatives,said that It’s important that the US retain the flexibility necessary to reconsider troop levels and respond to changes in the security environment should circumstances on the ground warrant. “The killing of Osama bin Laden does not mean that the job in Afghanistan is done. Al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremists are on the ropes,but remain resilient. These extremists will never stop waging war against the United States,and the failure to complete our mission in Afghanistan will give them a base from which to wage that war against us,” said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Any reduction of our troop levels in Afghanistan must be conditions-based and supported by our commanders on the ground,” she said.

“The President has said that the gains we have made are fragile and reversible. While we all want to bring the troops home,we must not do so in a way that would forfeit their hard-won gains,” she added.

Senator Joe Lieberman expressed his disappointment by the pace and timing of the withdrawal of troops. “I am increasingly concerned by the lagging public support for the mission,and it was disappointing that the President failed to bring more clarity to the situation,” said Senator John Cornyn.

“I had hoped the President would drawdown our forces more cautiously and am therefore concerned that the accelerated withdrawal which the President has ordered will put at risk the substantial gains we have made in Afghanistan,” he said.

“Our troops are in the middle of the fighting season in Afghanistan now which makes this a questionable time to begin to reduce their numbers. The fighting season ends in October and that would be the best time to begin drawing down our forces. I would then wait until the end of next year’s fighting season to begin to withdraw all our remaining surge forces and that could be accomplished by the end of 2012 or early 2013,” Lieberman said.

Senator Benjamin Cardin,a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,praised Obama for keeping his promise to begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan this summer but said he believes the current circumstances Obama described to the American people allow for swifter action.

Supporting Obama’s decision,Senator Herb Kohl said it’s time to bring troops home and rebuild the country. “As the President said,it’s vital that we end our combat mission in Afghanistan and shift the responsibility for their security to their own government,” he said.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont appreciates Obama’s announcement,but said he believe that the withdrawal should occur at significantly faster speed and greater scope.