Opening Statement of Chairman Ike Skelton

Hearing on Afghanistan: Getting the Strategy Right

“Today, the House Armed Services Committee meets to receive testimony from outside experts on ‘Afghanistan: Getting the Strategy Right.’  Our witnesses today are: General Jack Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army; Dr. Stephen Biddle, a noted expert on strategy with the Council on Foreign Relations who also served on General McChrystal’s assessment; and Dr. Paul Pillar, of Georgetown University, who served as the National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia until 2005.

“Starting in 2006, I began referring to Afghanistan as the ‘forgotten war.’  We allowed ourselves to be distracted by a war of choice from the war I think the President was right to call a war of necessity.

“So I was greatly encouraged by the serious approach President Obama took in reviewing the conflict earlier this year.  On March 27^th, President Obama announced a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.  In my opinion, this wasn’t just a new strategy, it was our first strategy. 

“The president underlined his serious approach by sending 21,000 additional troops and a new leadership to Kabul.  General McChrystal is simply the best we’ve got, and we’re lucky to have him there. 

“General McChrystal’s recent assessment presents a sober, serious view of the situation in Afghanistan and the challenges we face.  He also presents one possible way forward, a fully resourced, population-centric counter-insurgency campaign that would protect the population, build the Afghan security forces, and work to improve the government.  As my colleagues know, I am a strong supporter of this approach.

“Others disagree however.  We can find sober and serious people who advise that we risk getting bogged down in an unwinnable war and that focusing on capturing and killing al Qaeda leadership is the right approach.  Others suggest that our primary mission should be to train and equip more Afghan security forces and that we should not add U.S. troops to the 68,000 already there or on the way.

“The President again faces a momentous decision charting a path forward in Afghanistan.  He has undertaken a serious review of the strategy in Afghanistan and will make a decision as the commander in chief in the near future.  I believe he feels the same sense of urgency we all feel, and I hope we can all support his desire to make sure we get Afghanistan right.

“Congress, however, will also ultimately be involved in this decision.  To help us work through some of these issues, we have here today three experts who will help us highlight the questions about each path forward and think through what is most likely to work.  I thank each of them for appearing.

“I now turn to my good friend, the Ranking Member, Buck McKeon for any comments he might care to make.”

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