Pennsylvania’s two Democratic senators last night had varied responses to President Barack Obama’s plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, but neither of them embraced the strategy.

“I oppose sending 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan because I am not persuaded that it is indispensable in our fight against al-Qaida,” Sen. Arlen Specter said in a statement released after the president’s speech to the nation. “If it was, I would support an increase, because we have to do whatever it takes to defeat al-Qaida since they’re out to annihilate us.

“But if al-Qaida can operate out of Yemen or Somalia, why fight in Afghanistan, where no one has succeeded?”

Sen. Bob Casey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, applauded the president for his thorough analysis of the situation, but withheld his support.

“As a country, we deserved a full accounting of the challenges posed in Afghanistan. And that’s what we got from the Obama administration,” Mr. Casey said in a statement. “We also have a responsibility in the Congress to help get the strategy right.”

Read the full Post-Gazette article here

Tags: Afghanistan

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