[Peace-discuss] Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan

[Robert Naiman]

We're not at 1969 yet.

On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 9:42 PM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
> How seriously would we have taken a senator who said this about Vietnam 40
> years ago?  By then (1969) Nixon and Kissinger themselves were saying that
> they were "discussing a flexible timetable so that people around the world
> can see when we are going to bring our troops out" -- as they did, four
> years later...
>
> The "Nixon Doctrine" from that year was what Feingold is asking for now.
>  Then it meant to build up the S. Vietnamese army so that they could take
> over the defense of South Vietnam. The policy became known as
> "Vietnamization," which had much in common with the policies of the Kennedy
> administration (as Obama's does with Bush's).
>
>
> Robert Naiman wrote:
>>
>> Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan
>> David Chalian, ABC News, August 24, 2009 2:27 PM
>>
>> http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/08/feingold-to-obama-announce-withdrawal-timetable-from-afghanistan.html
>>
>> The Obama administration has been keenly aware of discontent among
>> many in its liberal base with regard to its Afghanistan policy and an
>> expected request for additional troops following General McChrystal's
>> upcoming assessment of the situation there.
>>
>> That liberal base just got a high-profile voice to lead its charge.
>>
>> Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, called on President Obama to announce a
>> timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.  "This
>> is a strategy that is not likely to succeed," Sen. Feingold said about
>> the troop buildup in Afghanistan.
>>
>> "After eight years, I am not convinced that pouring more and more
>> troops into Afghanistan is a well thought out policy,"   said
>> Feingold.  The liberal Democrat said he has expressed his reservations
>> with President Obama, Admiral Mullen, and others inside the
>> administration and he says he has "never been convinced they have a
>> good answer."
>>
>> "I think it is time we start discussing a flexible timetable so that
>> people around the world can see when we are going to bring our troops
>> out," said Feingold.  "Showing the people there and here that we have
>> a sense about when it is time to leave is one of the best things we
>> can do," he added.
>>
>> Sen. Feingold didn't offer up a specific timetable for when he would
>> like to see American troops out of Afghanistan.  The senator opposed
>> the war in Iraq and eventually became a leading voice among Democrats
>> in pushing the Bush administration to adopt a timetable for withdrawal
>> from Iraq.
>>
>> In an interview with the editorial board of The Post-Crescent in
>> Appleton, WI this afternoon, Sen. Feingold highlighted that the three
>> top terrorist targets originally in Afghanistan - Osama bin Laden,
>> al-Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar - are now in Pakistan. "Aren't we helping
>> to drive more extremists into Pakistan?," Feingold asked.  He went on
>> to call Pakistan the home of the "witch's brew of every kind of
>> nightmare."
>>
>> Sen. Feingold pointed to Af-Pak Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's recent
>> comments when asked about what success will look like in Afghanistan.
>> "We'll know it when we see it," said Holbrooke. "That's not good
>> enough for me," Feingold responded.
>>
>> Feingold said that he believes the United States needs to maintain its
>> ability to go after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and continue operations
>> there to "make sure we can do the most we can in the remaining time."
>>
>> The Wisconsin Democrat is starting to be a bit of a liberal thorn in
>> the President's (left) side and has some Democrats wondering if he may
>> be plotting a 2012 primary challenge to Obama.
>> [...]
>>
>>
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Demand an Exit Strategy from Afghanistan
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/exit-afghanistan