Feingold opposes Obama on troops to Afghanistan
COMBINED NEWS SERVICESWith the security situation in Afghanistan appearing increasingly difficult and suggestions that U.S. commanders may request thousands more troops, a Democratic senator called for a timetable to bring forces home.
Sen. Russ Feingold, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, in a meeting with the Appleton Post-Crescent in his home state of Wisconsin, criticized President Barack Obama's strategy of sending more U.S. troops.
"After eight years, I am not convinced that simply pouring more and more troops into Afghanistan is a well-thought-out strategy," Feingold told the paper's editorial board.
Feingold has expressed concern in the past that sending more U.S. forces to battle the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan could destabilize neighboring Pakistan. Yesterday, he went further than he has in the past to register his dissatisfaction with Obama's approach.
Feingold's position reflects dwindling American support for the war effort. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Aug. 20 showed a majority now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting. Only 24 percent said more troops should be sent to the country.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the American commander in Afghanistan, is due to provide an assessment of the U.S. security strategy by early next month.
Obama has made fighting a resurgent Islamist Taliban movement in Afghanistan a priority of his Democratic administration.
, Western military officials disclosed the deaths of three more coalition troops, one of them an American who died in an attack Sunday. The other two were Estonians, killed in a roadside bombing in southern Helmand province.
It was the 37th death for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since the beginning of August, a month that has seen a jump in attacks.
- Bloomberg News, with AP
