Dems, GOP Both Pan Obama's Afghanistan Strategy

(Newsroom America) -- Both Democrats and Republicans are criticizing President Barack Obama's troop withdrawal strategy for Afghanistan, but for different reasons - one side says the draw down is too slow, the other too "rash."

In a prime time speech Wednesday evening, Obama said he wants to bring 33,000 U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. That figure includes 10,000 by the end of this year and the additional forces by 2012.

But Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said that pace wasn't fast enough, and that the president should quicken the timeline.

"It has been the hope of many in Congress and across the country that the full drawdown of U.S. forces would happen sooner than the president laid out — and we will continue to press for a better outcome," Pelosi said following Obama's speech, speaking for a host of other Democrats.

Republicans, meanwhile, found Obama's plan too ambitious, saying they were concerned that reducing U.S. forces by that much would ultimately sacrifice the gains which have come from a 30,000-troop surge Obama ordered just a few months after he took office.

House Speaker John Boehner sounded the note of caution regarding military gains made on the ground so far, while 2008 GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he thought the plan would reduce U.S. forces by too much too quickly.

"This is not the 'modest' withdrawal that I and others had hoped for and advocated," he said.

Other Republicans said they believe the president's timetable was more motivated by politics and an eye towards his re-election bid next year.

"It seems the president is trying to find a political solution with a military component to it, when it needs to be the other way around," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., head of the House Intelligence Committee.

But that argument was criticized by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"Everybody has consistently said there is ... no military solution," he said. "If there is no military solution, then you better go hunt for the political one."

He said reducing American troop strength will allow Afghans to "begin to make the accommodations and the choices about their own future."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed, saying the youth of his nation would fill the security void left by departing U.S. forces. Following Obama's speech, Karzai thanked international troops for their support and said "the people of Afghanistan will be protecting their homeland."

Obama was set to visit Ft. Drum, New York, on Thursday, home to the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, the unit that has been deployed most to Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Obama said that "the tide of war is receding" in Southwest Asia, noting that troops will continue to depart at a steady pace. The U.S. combat role is scheduled to end by 2014, but a sizable force is likely to remain, albeit in a largely different role.

Obama's immediate withdrawal plan leaves 70,000 U.S. troops in a country that remains unstable at best.

© 2010 Newsroom America.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty