Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Expected To Get Warm Reception From Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is untested as a leader, yet he is expected to get a warm reception from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. The reason: He's not former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The White House said Ghani's speech Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress is an opportunity to mark a new chapter in U.S.-Afghanistan relations, which were strained by acrimony between President Barack Obama and Karzai. Lawmakers have been critical about U.S. troop involvement in America's longest war, wasteful spending in Afghanistan and Karzai's anti-American rhetoric.
Toward the end of his tenure, Karzai did not think the U.S. was holding Afghanistan's interests front and center. He repeatedly railed against the thousands of civilians being killed and said the war against terrorists should not be fought in the villages of his country. U.S. officials and lawmakers did not think Karzai's comments were appropriate given that 2,200 U.S. servicemen and women had been killed and billions of U.S. tax dollars had been spent during the conflict.
Still, despite being weary of war, lawmakers from both parties praised the White House announcement Tuesday to slow the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal.
In a shift from his previous plan, Obama said the U.S. would leave its 9,800 troops in Afghanistan in place rather than downsizing to 5,500 by year's end. The size of the U.S. footprint for next year is still to be decided, Obama said, but he brushed aside any speculation the withdrawal will bleed into 2017. That means the slowdown won't jeopardize his commitment to end America's involvement in Afghanistan before leaving office.
Deficiencies in the Afghan security forces, heavy casualties in the ranks of the army and police, a fragile new government and fears that Islamic State fighters could gain a foothold in Afghanistan combined to persuade Obama to slow the withdrawal.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the U.S. cannot allow IS militants to rise in Afghanistan as they did in Iraq. He criticized Obama's earlier plan for a faster withdrawal, saying the president was "dictating policy preferences divorced from security realties."
Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the White House announcement the "right decision" and said it would improve stability in the region.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the U.S. cannot afford to see Afghanistan spiral back into lawlessness and re-emerge as a safe hub for terrorists. He said keeping troops there will also help maintain intelligence on the ground.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that while everyone longs for the day when Afghans can meet their own security needs, "Iraq has shown us the consequences of leaving a fragile ally too early."
The reception Congress is expected to give Ghani will contrast with the one received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who delivered a speech to lawmakers earlier this month. Some Democrats skipped his speech, in which he warned the U.S. that an emerging international agreement the U.S. was trying to reach with Tehran would pave Iran's path to developing nuclear weapons.
The White House said Ghani's speech Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress is an opportunity to mark a new chapter in U.S.-Afghanistan relations, which were strained by acrimony between President Barack Obama and Karzai. Lawmakers have been critical about U.S. troop involvement in America's longest war, wasteful spending in Afghanistan and Karzai's anti-American rhetoric.
Toward the end of his tenure, Karzai did not think the U.S. was holding Afghanistan's interests front and center. He repeatedly railed against the thousands of civilians being killed and said the war against terrorists should not be fought in the villages of his country. U.S. officials and lawmakers did not think Karzai's comments were appropriate given that 2,200 U.S. servicemen and women had been killed and billions of U.S. tax dollars had been spent during the conflict.
Still, despite being weary of war, lawmakers from both parties praised the White House announcement Tuesday to slow the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal.
In a shift from his previous plan, Obama said the U.S. would leave its 9,800 troops in Afghanistan in place rather than downsizing to 5,500 by year's end. The size of the U.S. footprint for next year is still to be decided, Obama said, but he brushed aside any speculation the withdrawal will bleed into 2017. That means the slowdown won't jeopardize his commitment to end America's involvement in Afghanistan before leaving office.
Deficiencies in the Afghan security forces, heavy casualties in the ranks of the army and police, a fragile new government and fears that Islamic State fighters could gain a foothold in Afghanistan combined to persuade Obama to slow the withdrawal.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the U.S. cannot allow IS militants to rise in Afghanistan as they did in Iraq. He criticized Obama's earlier plan for a faster withdrawal, saying the president was "dictating policy preferences divorced from security realties."
Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the White House announcement the "right decision" and said it would improve stability in the region.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the U.S. cannot afford to see Afghanistan spiral back into lawlessness and re-emerge as a safe hub for terrorists. He said keeping troops there will also help maintain intelligence on the ground.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that while everyone longs for the day when Afghans can meet their own security needs, "Iraq has shown us the consequences of leaving a fragile ally too early."
The reception Congress is expected to give Ghani will contrast with the one received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who delivered a speech to lawmakers earlier this month. Some Democrats skipped his speech, in which he warned the U.S. that an emerging international agreement the U.S. was trying to reach with Tehran would pave Iran's path to developing nuclear weapons.
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