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

[Robert Naiman]

What's relevant here is not the time elapsed since the U.S. attack,
but what stage we are at politically.

Until now, as far as I am aware, no U.S. Senator has called for any
kind of timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Nor has any
major newspaper editorialized for a withdrawal timetable, etc. etc.
So, when one Senator does it, it is a big deal.

On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 10:14 PM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
>   Actually, 1969 was 7 years after the US attack on S. Vietnam,
>   while 2009 is 8 years after the US attack on Afghanistan.
>
>
> Robert Naiman wrote:
>>
>> 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