Community Corner

Tierney: President's Plan Doesn't Bring Troops Home Fast Enough

The following was submitted by the office of Congressman John Tierney.

Congressman John Tierney, ranking member of the National Security and Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech outlining the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Congressman Tierney has long questioned the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. Last year, as chairman of the National Security and Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee, he also released a report that exposed millions of taxpayer dollars being funneled to warlords and corrupt officials in Afghanistan.

“It is time to develop and implement a more aggressive plan to redeploy our service members and contractors out of Afghanistan," Tierney said. "We can and should do this even as we work diplomatically in the region toward a coordinated effort to allow Afghan security to assume responsibility and the international community to cooperate in assisting Afghanistan to improve economic development initiatives. A much more accelerated redeployment than was announced last night can still ensure that we transition in an orderly and safe manner and retain the ability to act with special forces and aircraft to ensure that any threats to our national security are dealt with forcefully and quickly.

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“The level of general and governmental corruption within Afghanistan and distrust of the population in its own government mitigate against effectiveness under the current counterinsurgency model. When taken together with the admitted degradation of the al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan there remains insufficient rational for continuing on the present course. I will continue to urge that we bring our forces home and use the financial resources such action would free up to address our pressing needs here. Our national security depends on strengthening our economy and being economically competitive in the world.”


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