Top Republican lawmakers wrote to President Barack Obama on Friday, expressing "deep concern" over his Afghanistan policy, saying it has left the country and allies "uncertain about (his) commitment to the war." In a letter obtained by AFP, 14 lawmakers including House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, said they fear Obama's deliberation over sending more US troops into battle "has emboldened our enemies."
Obama is preparing to announce his decision on whether to endorse a major troop build-up to reinforce the 68,000-strong contingent of US forces fighting a fierce insurgency from an emboldened Taliban. "We believe that it is long overdue for our military to be in the execution stage of the strategy instead of the evaluation phase," the lawmakers wrote.
Obama's deliberations - which have now lasted nearly three months since his war commander submitted a troop request - are "having a detrimental impact" on US efforts in Afghanistan and the military is "unsure whether Washington will give them the opportunity" to succeed there, the letter said. The group backed calls from General Stanley McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, for 40,000 extra US troops, and cited the general's warning that the mission is likely to fail without additional forces.
"We encourage you to heed General McChrystal's assessment that time is critical and failure to gain the initiative in the short term 'risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible,'" the Republicans wrote. Obama, who returned to Washington Thursday, was dogged by strategy questions during his tour of Asia this week and promised a decision "soon." White House aides said Obama will likely need another meeting of national security advisors and military officials before announcing his move on the eight-year-old war.