Lieberman Calls For More Troops in Afghanistan
AFGHANISTAN
Norwalk Hour
Tait Militana
Boston University Washington News Service
1/29/09
WASHINGTON- Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn, called on Thursday for more troops and money for Afghanistan, backing the Obama administration’s view that a defeat there would be detrimental to regional stability and the reputation of NATO.
In a speech at the Brookings Institution, a left-leaning think tank, Lieberman laid out a broad five-point plan to bring more civilian and military personnel to the country in the coming months to turn around the deteriorating conditions and defeat the insurgency. He urged foreign nations to do more to help, saying that regional stability has far-reaching implications for curbing terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons.
“Our failure there will make every problem in the region worse and harder to solve,” Lieberman said.
According to Lieberman, any surge in American troops in the country must be matched by a surge in the civilian workforce and the Afghan Army. Specifics on how much it will cost and how many troops his goals will require were not immediately available, but Lieberman said it is important that the United States make a long-term commitment to the region.
He said the U.S. military has learned a lot of lessons from the war in Iraq and that is why there is still an opportunity for success in Afghanistan.
“The American military has become the most formidable counterinsurgency force in history,” Lieberman said. “So we go into Iraq having learned a lot.”
Tom Mancinelli, a student at Georgetown University and former Marine Corps officer in Iraq who attended the speech, said that Lieberman’s view on the situation in Iraq is optimistic but that agrees with his analysis of the importance of Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan is more serious, more critical to our security,” Mancinelli said.
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