The US mission in Afghanistan is "in jeopardy," with President Barack Obama's withdrawal announcements and debate over rapid troop drawdowns emboldening Taliban fighters, Senator John McCain said Tuesday. "The president keeps talking about withdrawals and scheduling withdrawals that in the military view entails much greater risk. Of course, it's in jeopardy," the Republican lawmaker said about the US mission.
But McCain was quick to stress that the recent shooting massacre by a US soldier in Afghanistan, which he described as a "terrible tragedy," should not be seen as evidence of a failed mission in the war-torn country. "I don't think it should affect US strategy, but the president's announcements of withdrawal and continued talking about withdrawal continues to weaken our position," McCain told reporters. "It discourages our friends and encourages our adversaries, that's all. It's very clear," he added.
"If that continues, the message throughout the region is, the United States is leaving." On Tuesday, Obama said he met the US ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, and Afghan mission commander General John Allen on Monday to discuss his strategy for a responsible withdrawal.
Foreign combat troops are set to leave Afghanistan in 2014. Obama said there were already plans to withdraw 23,000 more US troops from Afghanistan by the end of this summer, following the 10,000 surge forces drawn down last year. McCain warned that Obama could be treading down a familiar and dangerous path.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai "becomes more unpredictable, the Taliban are emboldened, so the military situation, after significant gains, is very much doing what they did in Iraq, and that is, win the war and lose the peace," McCain said. Asked how Washington and the Pentagon could mitigate the crisis in Afghanistan in the short term, McCain said: "Stop saying that we're leaving."
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry said it was important not to allow the shooting tragedy to affect US policy in Afghanistan, but said the Obama administration will need to "take very strong steps to reach out and communicate with the Afghan people. "I think it's important to move very rapidly to appropriately charge any individual" over the shooting "and very important to set up a process which the Afghan people can see as serious," Kerry said.