Sep 18, 2015
Defense Drumbeat
U.S. Has To Prove Itself A Reliable Partner
Washington Post
9.18.2015
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
Highlights below, for the full column click here.
"Fourteen years ago, America's longest war began. The plot that led to the murder of 2,977 people on Sept. 11, 2001, originated in Afghanistan. Since then, more than 2,350 U.S. service members sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan to help ensure that no more innocent Americans are victims of such savagery. Now, the results of that sacrifice and the future of Afghanistan, as well as the extent of the ongoing terrorist threat to our homeland, hang on crucial decisions about to be made as President Obama decides how many troops, if any, will stay in Afghanistan through 2016.
A lot has changed in Afghanistan... Now Afghans face the prospect that no coalition troops will remain at the end of 2016.
In 2013, the U.S. military developed a plan to remove Americans from most combat operations in Afghanistan while still helping to develop the Afghan forces' security capabilities. The Obama administration disregarded the plan...
The current plan is to end any meaningful U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by December 2016, closing the few remaining U.S. bases in the country and foreclosing any real ability to effectively advise and support the Afghan military...
After 14 years of war, why should we stay engaged in a poor country so far away? First, Afghanistan has been and will continue to be a crucial center for terrorist organizations... Only by staying engaged can we fight that threat at its source, rather than waiting for it to come to us.
Another reason is we have a motivated partner. Afghanistan's national unity government is anxious to work closely with the United States and has security forces willing and able to do the fighting. By providing modest financial support and a limited presence to advise and conduct counterterrorism, we will be in solid position to take direct action against key terrorist targets.
A third reason is credibility. If we expect other nations to join the fight against terrorists, the United States has to prove itself a reliable partner. That reliability is in doubt after our premature withdrawal from Iraq, the never-enforced red line in Syria and a nuclear deal that does nothing to curtail Iran's malignant activities in the region. Complete withdrawal from Afghanistan would cause any country to question the wisdom of an alliance with the United States.
Fourteen years after 9/11, the United States faces many complex security threats. But Afghanistan remains a central node in the terrorism fight. It would be a tragic mistake for the United States to disengage from a fight where we have a willing partner and where so much can be accomplished at a relatively modest cost. We do not want to look back one day and wish we had chosen a different course."
9.18.2015
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
Highlights below, for the full column click here.
"Fourteen years ago, America's longest war began. The plot that led to the murder of 2,977 people on Sept. 11, 2001, originated in Afghanistan. Since then, more than 2,350 U.S. service members sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan to help ensure that no more innocent Americans are victims of such savagery. Now, the results of that sacrifice and the future of Afghanistan, as well as the extent of the ongoing terrorist threat to our homeland, hang on crucial decisions about to be made as President Obama decides how many troops, if any, will stay in Afghanistan through 2016.
A lot has changed in Afghanistan... Now Afghans face the prospect that no coalition troops will remain at the end of 2016.
In 2013, the U.S. military developed a plan to remove Americans from most combat operations in Afghanistan while still helping to develop the Afghan forces' security capabilities. The Obama administration disregarded the plan...
The current plan is to end any meaningful U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by December 2016, closing the few remaining U.S. bases in the country and foreclosing any real ability to effectively advise and support the Afghan military...
After 14 years of war, why should we stay engaged in a poor country so far away? First, Afghanistan has been and will continue to be a crucial center for terrorist organizations... Only by staying engaged can we fight that threat at its source, rather than waiting for it to come to us.
Another reason is we have a motivated partner. Afghanistan's national unity government is anxious to work closely with the United States and has security forces willing and able to do the fighting. By providing modest financial support and a limited presence to advise and conduct counterterrorism, we will be in solid position to take direct action against key terrorist targets.
A third reason is credibility. If we expect other nations to join the fight against terrorists, the United States has to prove itself a reliable partner. That reliability is in doubt after our premature withdrawal from Iraq, the never-enforced red line in Syria and a nuclear deal that does nothing to curtail Iran's malignant activities in the region. Complete withdrawal from Afghanistan would cause any country to question the wisdom of an alliance with the United States.
Fourteen years after 9/11, the United States faces many complex security threats. But Afghanistan remains a central node in the terrorism fight. It would be a tragic mistake for the United States to disengage from a fight where we have a willing partner and where so much can be accomplished at a relatively modest cost. We do not want to look back one day and wish we had chosen a different course."
114th Congress