Afghanistan Weekly Reader May 27, 2011: Congress checks President (almost)
138 votes two years ago. 162 votes last year. 204 votes yesterday. Congress is slowly waking up from its decade-long slumber and realizing that the country has been at war in Afghanistan for ten years without a clear exit strategy. Proposals requiring the Obama administration to present a plan for ending U.S. military involvement in the conflict have been introduced for the last three years to a chorus of yawns outside of traditional anti-war circles. But the McGovern-Jones “Afghanistan Exit and Accountability Act” surprised everyone when it came within 12 votes of passing in a floor vote on Thursday.
What kept Congress from hitting the snooze button again? The death of Osama bin Laden certainly had a rousing effect. As did the realization that support for $120 billion a year nation-building adventures may not convey the appropriate image of fiscal responsibility to constituents enduring budget cuts back home. And polls showing that voters’ security concerns have more to do with debt and long-term unemployment than the Taliban may have helped sharpen legislators’ focus.
But if Congress required that extra something to shake them awake going into the vote they needed look no further than the news coming out of Afghanistan that day. As the representatives headed to the floor, outlets reported the deaths of eight more U.S. troops in Kandahar.
ARTICLES
5-23-11
A Slice of Afghanistan Well Secured by Afghans
NY Times by Carlotta Gall
Afghan Army battalions have deployed in the districts of Zabul, and are the first in the country to operate independently. They are emerging as a real authority acceptable to local people and as an alternative to both the Taliban and international forces, which are still received ambivalently. Increasingly, they are handling security, relations with the people and even dispute resolution.
5-25-11
Walter Jones: The Anti-War Republican from North Carolina
The Nation by George C. Wilson
Even though more retired military people live in Jones’s district than in most other districts in the country, he has discovered that many marines who served in Afghanistan agree with him that the United States is fighting a hopeless, never-ending war for a corrupt government.
Afghanistan war tactics are profoundly wrong, says former ambassador
The Guardian by Julian Borger
Britain’s former ambassador to Afghanistan has attacked the conduct of the war by the US commander, General David Petraeus, describing the future CIA chief’s tactics as counter-productive and “profoundly wrong”.
War-weary lawmakers push Obama to end Afghan war
Reuters by David Alexander
War-weary lawmakers pushed President Barack Obama to wind down the 10-year-old conflict in Afghanistan on Wednesday as the House of Representatives began debating a bill to authorize $690 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year.
5-26-11
U.S. Has Held Meetings With Aide to Taliban Leader, Officials Say
NY Times by Carlotta Gall and Ruhullah Khapalwak
American officials have met with a senior aide to the fugitive Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, at least three times in recent months in the first direct exploratory peace talks, officials in the region said.
Afghanistan Withdrawal Measure Falls Just 12 Votes Short of Passage in Congress
The Huffington Post by Amanda Terkel
In its first votes on the war in Afghanistan since the killing of Osama bin Laden, Congress sent a strong message to President Obama that its patience for the conflict is wearing thin.
A measure requiring the President to present a plan “with a timeframe and completion date” for the transfer of military operations to Afghan authorities failed 204-215. It would also have mandated a plan for “negotiations leading to a political solution and reconciliation in Afghanistan” and a new National Intelligence Estimate on al Qaeda.
Rep. Bruce Braley Calls for Immediate Withdrawal in Afghanistan
The Huffington Post by Amanda Terkel
A recent trip to Afghanistan, the death of Osama bin Laden and the toll on U.S. soldiers has convinced Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) that the United States should withdraw all combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year.
OPINION
5-20-11
Afghanistan has three wars at once. Let’s fight the right one.
Washington Post by Douglas A. Ollivant
The outgoing U.S. commander of forces in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. John Campbell (with whom I worked as counterinsurgency adviser), made perhaps the most understated comment about the Pech when he once quipped, “It is different than other places.” Perhaps a better strategy — better than the one that has cost more than 100 U.S. military lives and billions of dollars in that valley alone — would have been to let it stay different.
5-27-11
For the U.S., it’s time to get out of Afghanistan
Los Angeles Times by Sen. Barbara Boxer
Although we must remain vigilant in our efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and must continue our support for the Afghan people, there is simply no justification for the continued deployment of 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan. This July, the president should expedite his promised withdrawal of our combat forces. Moreover, we should now set an end date for the U.S. deployment there.
