WASHINGTON: Leading Republican lawmakers urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to reconsider his plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan as the country was still in a state of war.
In separate statements, the lawmakers said the murder of a US general in Afghanistan on Tuesday was a stark reminder of the need to keep American troops in the country for as long as it took to stabilise it.
Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner also offered to work with the president should he decide to stay in Afghanistan longer than scheduled.
The Obama administration announced a new timetable in May, which calls for ending the US combat mission in Afghanistan in December this year. About 9,800 US troops, however, will remain till 2015, but will be cut in half by the end of next year. By the end of 2016, the United States will maintain only a “normal embassy presence” in Afghanistan.
The Obama administration has also warned that it can withdraw the troops earlier than scheduled if Afghanistan failed to sign an agreement for legalising their stay.
But Speaker Boehner said that Major General Harold Greene’s assassination was “a setback that demands leaders in Washington and Kabul to take time to assess the state of our shared campaign and the necessary steps forward”.
He said he had told President Obama “privately and publicly, that my biggest concern is that America will end its mission in Afghanistan just short of the goal line”.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard McKeon, a California Republican, said the attack “only underscores the importance of leaving Afghanistan when the job is finished — rather than stubbornly adhering to arbitrary political deadlines”.
Senator Jim Inhofe, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Gen Greene’s murder also underscored the need to protect US troops as they withdrew.
“As the president withdraws our forces, it is critically important that we listen to our commanders on the ground to determine what is necessary to safely and effectively accomplish our mission in Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.
Speaker Boehner said the Taliban’s recent campaign of high-profile attacks was calculated to accompany a global PR strategy. The Taliban, he noted, were highlighting President Obama’s pullout schedule to convince the world that the US was ready to abandon Afghanistan’s weak and ineffective government.
“So let me reiterate: if the president decides to rethink his strategy, including withdrawals, deadlines, and policy restraints, particularly on certain associated terrorist networks, he will have my support,” he said.
At the White House, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said President Obama’s outlook on Afghanistan remained the right strategy and the Afghans needed to take charge of their own security, instead of depending on others.
“Afghanistan is a dangerous place,” he said. “It has been for some time. It was before the US got there. … At some point, their security efforts need to be self-sufficient.”
In a condolence message on Gen Greene’s death, Chief of Staff of the US Army Gen Ray Odierno said the military remained committed to its mission in Afghanistan.
“We … will continue to work with our Afghan partners to ensure the safety and security of all coalition soldiers and civilians,” he said.
