John McCain Praises President Obama's Afghanistan War Strategy
Christopher Weber
Correspondent
Posted:
12/16/09
Senator John McCain said Tuesday that President Obama made the "right choice" in sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, but warned that setting a withdrawal timetable sends the wrong message to U.S. allies and enemies."I think this policy can succeed . . . and I think it deserves robust public support, both from Democrats and Republicans," the Arizona senator said in a speech to the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.
McCain vowed to be an ally in the public campaign for the Afghanistan strategy and promised to work to get the president the votes his war policies need on Capitol Hill.
On Dec. 1, in a speech at the U.S. Military Academy, Obama announced a plan for Afghanistan that included an immediate troop increase and a strategy to begin withdrawing forces by July 2011. In television interviews the night of the West Point speech, McCain voiced support for the so-called "surge," while expressing misgivings about announcing any kind of timetable for a draw-down of U.S. troops.
In his prepared remarks Tuesday to an audience of influential Republican thinkers and activists, McCain reiterated those views, while sounding more supportive than before of the foreign policy direction of the man who had thwarted his own desire to be commander-in-chief.
McCain emphasized that he'd been heartened by congressional testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, General Stanley McChrystal and other military officials, all of whom provided assurances that the withdrawal set to begin 18 months from now would not be sudden -- and would also be contingent on conditions on the ground. McCain expressed his view that, realistically, such criteria would mostly likely mean that a large number of U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan long after the pullout begins.
"Still, the fundamental problem remains: We have announced a date, divorced from conditions on the ground, when we will start to withdraw our troops. It doesn't matter whether we call it a 'cliff' or a 'ramp' or anything else. It's still an exit sign," McCain said. "It sends the wrong signal to our friends, who fear – and not without reason – that the United States will abandon them before they can defend and sustain themselves. It sends the wrong signal to our enemies, who will use this July 2011 date to undermine and intimidate our partners."
As if to underscore that very point, the New York Times reported Tuesday that Pakistani officials had rebuffed U.S. demands that it crack down on a major Taliban warrior, Sarij Haqqani, because they did not have faith in Obama's announced troop surge and considered Haqqani and his control of large areas of Afghanistan to be important to Pakistan's security once American forces begin to leave and pits it against Russian, Iran, China and India in the region.
McCain said he was pleased when Gates delivered a strong message in Kabul last week, telling Afghan officials the U.S. is "in this thing to win." Despite his reservations on the proposed timetable, McCain said he believes a lot can be done in 18 months to root out terrorist networks, increase security and begin building a more stable government in Afghanistan.
"In the next 18 months, with a proper-resourced counterinsurgency strategy, we can reverse the momentum of the insurgency," McCain said. "And we can create the time and space for Afghan leaders, with our support and pressure, to reform their government, to crack down on corruption, and to build a nation that will never again serve as a base for attacks against America and our allies." McCain said U.S. failure in Afghanistan could be devastating to Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
"We cannot afford to lose this conflict," he added. "The repercussions of failure will reverberate for decades."