As public sours on war, republican senator backs Afghan pullout deadline

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from Raw Story: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0822/americans-sour-afghani... /


One influential Republican senator has changed his mind on President Barack Obama's plan to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011.

After a recent trip to the region, Sen. Lindsey Graham returned to say that he believes some troops could be removed in July 2011.

"After this trip, I think we can transition next summer some areas of Afghanistan to Afghan control," Graham told CBS' Bob Schieffer Sunday.

"I see progress I had not seen before. I see a scenario if things continue to develop the way they are that certain areas of Afghanistan can be transitioned to Afghan control and we could remove some troops safely without undermining the overall war mission," he said.

"But at the end of the day the president has to let the Afghan people, the regional players know, the American people know that we're not going to leave until we're successful. But I do see a path forward next summer to transition in certain areas of Afghanistan but we will need substantial troops well past July of 2011 to get this right," continued Graham.


read more: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0822/americans-sour-afghani... /