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Posted on Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Senator Wyden statement on Afghanistan escalation

Yesterday, Senator Ron Wyden issued the following statement on President Barack Obama's decision to send additional troops into Afghanistan:

“I am skeptical that committing tens of thousands of additional men and women -- and billions of additional tax dollars -- to Afghanistan will help meet the President's stated goals. To the contrary, I remain concerned that this proposed surge will take away desperately-needed resources to restore our economy and put people back to work.

“I agree that America must continue its efforts to eliminate and disrupt safe havens for terrorism, and it is essential as we do so to determine if there are better, less-costly ways to go about that mission. The question is whether an 18-month troop surge in Afghanistan will have an enduring impact on the ability of terrorists and other bad actors to operate in that region.

“I will reserve final judgment on the troop surge until after the Senate Intelligence Committee receives its classified briefing from the Obama Administration. As of tonight, my strong preference is to keep those troops and billions of dollars right here at home to help re-build America.”