On the recordJanuary 13, 2010
When a President decides to go to war, his or her plans must have clarity. The American people need to know exactly where the President stands and what his goals are. The President's original proposal was to begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan 18 months from now, in July 2011. When the President first announced the plan, it sounded like a pretty clear timetable, but then the picture started to get really fuzzy when American and Afghan officials began to backtrack. National Security Adviser James Jones said the withdrawal date is "not a cliff, it's a ramp." Secretary of State Clinton said the withdrawal would continue "for the foreseeable future." Defense Secretary Gates called the withdrawal plan the "beginning of a process, an inflection point," and dependent upon "conditions on the ground." He also said that the actual withdrawal would "probably" take 2 or 3 years. And then President Karzai really threw cold water on things when he said that Afghanistan would not be able to provide for its own security for 15 to 20 years, let alone 18 months. So the question is this: When July, 2011, rolls around, will we be at the beginning of the troop withdrawal or just in the middle of it? Will we be standing on the cliff or going down the ramp? And will we be at the inflection point or at the point of no return in another open-ended war? Mr. Speaker, the American people and our troops deserve a solid plan.
