Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holding a Powerful Re-Evaluation Of Af-Pak [View All]

[Mass]

I missed the hearing, but Ackerman has a post about it here
http://washingtonindependent.com/40173/senate-foreign-relations-committee-holding-a-powerful-re-evaluation-of-af-pak

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holding a Powerful Re-Evaluation Of Af-Pak
By Spencer Ackerman 4/23/09 11:30 AM

Sadly, I’m working on other things, but I’m listening to the livestream of an extremely powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing featuring Afghanistan veterans criticizing the continued war in Afghanistan. Marine Cpl. Rick Reyes denounced the “occupation” of Afghanistan, a policy that he said “forced to become a tyrant,” since he was unable to determine who was a civilian and who was an insurgent. “At a minimum, this occupation needs to be rethought,” Reyes said, as does “sending more troops” to Afghanistan. Not all of his fellow veterans go so far — some, like U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher McGurk are critical of U.S. efforts so far, but contend that U.S. interests compel a deepened commitment to Afghanistan.

I don’t want to say too much about something I’m not fully covering and listening to as a background priority. When I have the statements of Reyes and his colleagues — not all went as far as he did — I’ll write more. But three points really stand out.

First, this is the most prominent forum yet given to forthright critiques of the Afghanistan war, let alone critiques that inch up to the boundary of saying the war is lost. Second, critiques like Reyes are directly reminiscent of the critique delivered to the committee in 1971 by Vietnam veteran and now-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who held today’s hearing as the committee’s chairman. Andrew Bacevich, the Boston University international affairs professor, called the lacunae between resources and strategy in Afghanistan “comparable” to the Vietnam strategy denounced by “a young John Kerry.” (Al Qaeda is a “religiously motivated mafia” that needs to be dealt with by a “sustained, multilateral police effort,” he said, not by a “Long War.”)

Third, while this remains to be seen, the country is facing a test — not just with taking these veterans’ critiques seriously, to inform what U.S. strategy in Afghanistan/Pakistan needs to be, but not to repeat what was done to Kerry in the 1970s. That is, smearing him as a traitor to his fellow veterans by speaking out against an ill-considered war. These veterans are pushing the country’s discourse on Afghanistan into a difficult and uncomfortable area. It would be unconscionable for anyone to attack them for doing such a brave thing.

More here from NECN (video at the link)
http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extra/2009/04/23/Kerry-insists-Afghanistan-is/1240497745.html
Kerry insists Afghanistan is not the next Vietnam

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry spoke today at a hearing on "Soldiers' Stories From the Afghan War." He's listening as veterans of the war in Afghanistan shine a light on a conflict that a small, but growing number of Americans are beginning to question.

"We are living the lessons learned over the past 40 years over how we regard veterans," said Kerry. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your service to our country."

"History proves that soldiers on the ground have an intimate knowledge that is vital to their commanders and to us as policy makers," said Kerry.

...

"North Vietnamese never posed a direct threat to our country. The extremists we are fighting today to represent and have in fact implemented a direct threat to the security of the United States," said Kerry.

"There is much still to be done in Afghanistan and Pakistan," said Kerry.