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McCain slams Obama over Afghan pullout
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain Sunday sharply questioned President Barack Obama's decision to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by July 2011.
"I'm against a timetable. In wars you declare when you're leaving after you've succeeded," McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
McCain, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said no military adviser recommended Obama set the date for the start of the drawdown.
"So it was purely a political decision and not one based on facts on the ground, not based on military strategy," McCain said.
He said the date has sent mixed signals to troops and the wrong message to insurgents, who he said now can plan to wait out their enemies. A high-ranking Taliban prisoner summed up the terrorist group's attitude, he said: "You've got the watches and we've got the time."
With the beginning of a U.S. troop pullout in sight, McCain said, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has little reason to cooperate in U.S.-backed efforts to build a strong government and military while rooting out corruption.
McCain praised Gen. David Petraeus, Obama's pick to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal, fired as commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan for making disparaging comments about the president and his staff.
But McCain said setting a date for the start of troop withdrawal puts Petraeus "in an almost untenable position here" and called on Obama to make clear withdrawal depends on conditions in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John McCain Sunday sharply questioned President Barack Obama's decision to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by July 2011.
"I'm against a timetable. In wars you declare when you're leaving after you've succeeded," McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
McCain, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said no military adviser recommended Obama set the date for the start of the drawdown.
"So it was purely a political decision and not one based on facts on the ground, not based on military strategy," McCain said.
He said the date has sent mixed signals to troops and the wrong message to insurgents, who he said now can plan to wait out their enemies. A high-ranking Taliban prisoner summed up the terrorist group's attitude, he said: "You've got the watches and we've got the time."
With the beginning of a U.S. troop pullout in sight, McCain said, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has little reason to cooperate in U.S.-backed efforts to build a strong government and military while rooting out corruption.
McCain praised Gen. David Petraeus, Obama's pick to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal, fired as commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan for making disparaging comments about the president and his staff.
But McCain said setting a date for the start of troop withdrawal puts Petraeus "in an almost untenable position here" and called on Obama to make clear withdrawal depends on conditions in Afghanistan.
