PHOENIXVILLE, PA – Steve Welch, Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, made the following statement regarding President Obama’s Afghanistan policy:
“I support President Obama’s decision to commit 30,000 more troops to finish the job in Afghanistan and help ensure its future stability. Our national security must always be the driving force behind any decision that places our servicemen and women in harm’s way. While I certainly agree that we need benchmarks to examine whether or not we are succeeding in our mission, I do not believe that setting a targeted withdraw date is a wise strategy. I believe the military commanders who are on the ground should play a vital role in advising the President about whether or not a withdraw at a particular time is prudent.”
Steve, while I agree that we should support President OBama's decision to add troops, I do not believe that he is motivated by a desire to finish the job. It is unlikely this can be done in 18 months and that seems to be how long he has really committed the troops. Benchmarks are an important part of the commitment but setting these benchmark too aggressively insures that we will fail. We need to be aggressive in our expectations of the Afghans but realistic.