US diplomatic facilities expanded, no firm date for a drawdown of US troops

The following four articles provide indications that the US will continue to have an enlarged diplomatic presence in Afghanistan over coming years and and that the US military will remain in Afghanistan after the July, 2011 drawdown date first mentioned by President Obama in December of 2009. It was in December, we may recall, that President Obama announced an increase in troops to be deployed to Afghanistan. At that time, the President also referred to the possibility that some US troops would begin to be withdrawn, beginning in July 2011. However, he never specified how many troops might then be withdrawn or if any troops at all would be brought home. He emphasized that any such drawdown of troops depended on conditions in Afghanistan and what his generals recommended.

There are two points that strike one from the four articles to which I refer below. First, the US government shows every indication of having a diplomatic and military presence in Afghanistan for years to come. Second, Republicans and the President seem to be virtually on the same page when it comes to a drawdown date. President Obama has said that some troops may be withdrawn from Afghanistan beginning in July 2011, but not necessarily. Republicans say this is too ambiguous and they want a policy that excludes any date or timetable. They suggest that we should leave it up to the generals who are in command. That could be in July 2011, or many years after that.

The first article reports on the contruction of US diplomatic facilities. The other three articles report on Republican opposition to any date or timetable for the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan.

First article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/03-5

Rahim Faiez reports in an article posted on Common Dreams.org that the "U.S. government will spend $511 million to expand its embassy in Kabul," according to the US ambassador Karl Eikenberry. The construction project is "a demonstration of America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan. Faiez writes: "The project stated earlier this year and currently employes about 500 Afghans. Once construction is under way, more than 1,500 Afghan workers will be employed." There are other building projects in the works. Over the last two years, the US government has signed two contracts to expand American diplomatic facilities in Kabul and consulates in Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat provinces that total $790 million, according to Eikenberry.

Second article: http://antiwar.com/2010/11/3/republicans-vow-to-target-already-disavowed-afghan-drawdown-date

Jason Ditz reports for Anti-War.com that House Republicans "have promised [that] one of their first orders of business is to attack President Obama's policy of possibly drawing down the number of US troops in Afghanistan." Ditz points out that Obama would probably have no trouble with such a Republican initiative because he, the Secretary of State, and his generals have never committed the US government to a firm drawdown date.

Third article: http://antiwar.com/2010/06/24/obama-disavows-july-2011-afghan-drawdown-date

In an earlier report last June, Ditz reports that President Obama announced that there would be no "hasty exit" from Afghanistan, clarifying that "the July 2011 drawdown date he set himself in December" (2009) was a date when the withrawal of an unspecified size would begin only if conditions on the ground in Afghanistan were sufficiently stable, that is, there existed a stable and legitimate Afghan government and an Iraq army and policy force capable of maintaining security.

Fourth article - Just Foreign Policy, Nov. 3, 2010, adds further evidence (see below) that the Republicans, not only in the House but also in the Senate, will be pushing for legislation that explicitly rules out any date or timetable, however conditional it might be, for a drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan.

McCain hopes for fresh look at Afghan policySteve Holland, Reuters, Wed Nov 3, 2010 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A21K320101103

'Republican Senator John McCain said on Tuesday in the wake of big Republican victories in Congress that he hopes President Barack Obama will take a fresh look at U.S. war policy in Afghanistan. McCain won re-election to his Arizona Senate seat by a large margin, ensuring he will retain have a strong voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee as its ranking Republican member.

"In an interview, McCain told Reuters he was looking forward to a December review the Obama administration is preparing to give an update on the U.S. troop increase Obama ordered a year ago to try to repulse a strengthened Taliban.McCain, who is expected to visit Afghanistan soon, said he would like to see a change in Obama's decision to begin withdrawing some U.S. troops from Afghanistan next August."I can only speak for myself, but this date for withdrawal that the president announced without any military advice or counsel has caused us enormous problems in our operations in Afghanistan, because our enemies are encouraged and our friends are confused over there," he said.

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