Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) echoed Afghan human rights official Nader Nadery: What prevents the Community Defense Initiative, in which the U.S. backs local paramilitaries, from becoming new and entrenched militias or otherwise contributing to destabilization?
“It’s very important,” Gen. David Petraeus said, “making sure the warlords won’t come back.” More…
How to hold the Afghan government accountable for corruption, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) asked, particularly if the United States is really promising, a priori, a long-term partnership with Afghanstan?
“It’s going to be a long-term challenge to end corruption in Afghanistan,” Deputy Secretary Jack Lew said. “We have to see More…
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) asks a brave and inconvenient question: As much as the Taliban may be hated, don’t some Afghans prefer their severity over “the endless process of having to grease the palms of endless government bureaucrats”? Better an uncorrupt religious fanatic than a corrupt secular government? It’s the More…
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) is no fan of the Afghanistan escalation. “Let me get this straight,” he said, the surge in Afghanistan is about U.S. security interests?
“Our overriding objective, of course, is ensuring al-Qaeda and other transnational extremists don’t reestablish a sanctuary in Afghanistan,” Gen. David Petraeus replied. “And More…
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) reiterated his long-standing concern that surging U.S. troops in Afghanistan will destabilize Pakistan. Why can’t the Pakistanis move more decisively against extremists if our surge places pressure on their side of the border?
Gen. David Petraeus replied that he hears from his Pakistani counterparts that “you More…
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has no shortage of problems domestically. He’s giving up a lot of power to stave off being prosecuted. But Gen. David Petraeus, who deals with his Pakistani military counterparts, testified that a military coup isn’t one.
“I don’t think that the current challenges imperil More…
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), asks: How large should the Afghan security services be?
“We have established goals by year right now for the Afghan national army and the Afghan national police,” Gen. David Petraeus replied. The army should get to 134,000 soldiers and the police to 109,000 cops by October More…
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) asked Gen. David Petraeus what it will take to get the Pakistani military to go after the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network and the al-Qaeda strongholds: “How can we convince them we have a long-term commitment to the region?”
Petraeus replied that it takes time to More…
“Let me state up front that I fully support the policy that President Obama announced at West Point last week,” said Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia, during his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. “None of this will More…
During his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning, Jack Lew, the deputy secretary of state, praised Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Eikenberry for “their commitment for truly joined civilian-military efforts are absolute” in Afghanistan. Accordingly, he said, the U.S. troop increase has to be matched by “fully More…
rss