Lummis Responds To Obama's Afghan Proposal

Statement

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., issued this statement following President Obama's announcement that he wants to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan by the middle of next year and start withdrawing American forces from the country by July 2011:

"In October, I called on the President to adopt General Stanley McChrystal's proposal for a new counterinsurgency strategy and additional troops, because I believe the window of opportunity to prevent us from losing ground to the Taliban is closing fast. After more than three months of back-and-forth deliberations, the President has finally made a decision as to how he plans to drive back the Taliban and speed up the expansion and effectiveness of the Afghan military and police force.

"I sincerely hope that he has provided General McChrystal with what we need to win this war and that the plan he outlined is successful. I urge the President to focus on winning this war and then bringing our troops home after the Afghan people are prepared to provide for their nation's security."

The President also plans to ask NATO and other allies to contribute 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The combined U.S. and NATO deployments would nearly reach the 40,000 requested last summer by General McChrystal. The President's plan also includes efforts to expand the Afghan army from 90,000 troops to 134,000 troops.

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