Sen. Chambliss Urges More Troops for Afghanistan

[tekisui]

Source: WSAV/AP

ATLANTA (AP) - Sen. Saxby Chambliss is leading a Georgia congressional delegation that’s visiting Afghanistan, and he says the U.S. must increase its troop strength there.

The delegation includes Republican Reps. Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland, and Democratic Rep. John Barrow.

On Thursday, the delegation had Thanksgiving dinner with troops from the 48th Infantry Brigade, part of the Georgia Army National Guard.

President Barack Obama is expected to announce a major increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan next week.

Chambliss, a Republican, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and will have a say in sending additional troops to Afghanistan. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is comfortable that the right decision will be reached.

http://www2.wsav.com/sav/news/local/military/article/sen._chambliss_urges_more_troops_for_afghanistan/72427/

[babylonsister]

1. Murtha meets w/McCrystal: does not see an “achievable goal” in Afghanistan

Delegation visits troops as decision on Afghanistan looms
By Roxana Tiron - 11/26/09 03:57 PM ET


Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the House’s senior defense appropriator, led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Afghanistan and the Middle East region earlier this week.

Murtha, the chairman of the Appropriations Defense subcommittee, met with the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.

The congressional delegation comes a week before President Barack Obama is expected to announce his strategy for Afghanistan and possible troop increases.

Obama’s announcement likely will commence an intense and divisive congressional debate not just over the price tag of the war, but also over the U.S. role in that country.

Murtha told The Hill recently that he does not see an “achievable goal” in Afghanistan. “I do not see a strategy and how we can measure it,” Murtha said.

Murtha’s congressional delegation also stopped at the border between Iraq and Kuwait to observe and talk to officials in charge of the withdrawal of equipment from Iraq.

Congressional delegations are customary for the Thanksgiving recess particularly with members from defense committees, but they are not announced in advance for security reasons.

The delegation included mostly members of the House Appropriations Committee, such as Reps. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.).

more...

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/69567-congressional-delegation-visits-troops-as-presidential-afghanistan-decision-looms

[tekisui]

2. Rep. Duncan (R) calls for end to war in Afghanistan

Source: timesnews

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. can't recall the exact date he decided the war in Afghanistan wasn't worth fighting.

It certainly wasn't in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, when the Knoxville Republican was one of 420 U.S. House members who voted to use military force against those who planned and carried out the attacks.

more: http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9018665