Boehner: July troop draw-down in Afghanistan could "undermine the tenuous progress we've made"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

WASHINGTON — US House Speaker John Boehner wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan Wednesday and assailed President Barack Obama's plan to begin pulling US troops out in July a risk to fragile security gains.

"Any drawdown of US troops must be based on the conditions on the ground, not on political calculations," Boehner, the White House's top Republican foe in the US Congress, said in a statement from his office in Washington.

"If the Obama administration insists on beginning to draw down troops in July, it must explain how the pace and scope of such a move will not undermine the tenuous progress we've made thus far. To date, it has not done so."

Boehner's comments came at the end of a two-day visit to Afghanistan, during which the congressional delegation he led heard from US General David Petraeus, US commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/20/in-afghanistan-house-speaker-john-boehner-assails-pullout-plan/