Menendez to Petraeus: Tell Me How Much This Costs

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 the way to ensure that is to have a country that is not a failed state and allows that to happen.”

Mendendez was unpersuaded. “We will still be in the same national security paradigm” if Afghan President Hamid Karzai “fails.” So when does the strategy fail, he wants to know. Is this not circular? “That dictates we have a long-term obligation to Afghanistan, because we hope Karzai will do everything that’s right. … my view of that, therefore, is skepticism.” Is Karzai right that the United States will be paying for Afghan security until 2024?

“It’s not a light switch that takes place in a situation like this,” Petraeus said. He “couldn’t talk about the time frame.” But “certainly it is going to be years before they can handle the bulk of security tasks and allow the bulk of our troopers to redeploy.” So why not move faster, as he and McChrystal want?

Menendez: “At some point we need to get the price tag here.” Is the U.S. starting from scratch, development-wise, after already spending $13 billion in Afghanistan? Deputy Secretary Jack Lew disagreed that “there’s nothing to show” for the cost, including “very substantial access to health care … a lot of girls enrolled in schools … It’s fair to say there’s an awful lot of work ahead of us.” But “it’s not quite the same as starting from scratch,” he said.