House Dem supports slowing Afghan drawdown

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday he supported slowing down the pace of the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan.

“For my part, I support increased flexibility in the pace of drawdown of our troops,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said in prepared remarks before a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan. 

{mosads}”Staying in Afghanistan forever is unnecessary and counterproductive, but some flexibility in the pace of the drawdown of the last 10,000 troops seems to make a lot of sense,” Smith said. 

Smith’s comments add to a growing number of voices who support slowing the withdrawal of the roughly 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, who are training and advising Afghan forces. 

The commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, has already made clear he wants to slow the pace. He testified last month that he has provided options to his chain of command that would allow for more troops during the summer fighting season. Campbell is testifying at Wednesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter endorsed a conditions-based drawdown Tuesday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. 

“I think we can adjust our plan over the next year or two,” he said. “I have discussed that here in Washington. … I don’t know what decisions the president will make in that regard or the timetable on which he’ll make them.”  

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has also asked U.S. officials and lawmakers for the pace to be slowed, and Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday that slowing down the pace would be received “positively” in Afghanistan’s neighboring country. 

The administration plans to drawdown the roughly 10,000 U.S. troops to 5,500 by the middle of this year’s fighting season, and drop to 1,000 by the end of next year.

Critics of that plan — mostly Republicans — say drawing down too quickly would threaten progress in Afghanistan, and risk another Iraq-like scenario where instability followed the complete removal of U.S. troops in 2011. 

Ghani will visit Washington to meet with President Obama later this month, which could present an opportunity for the Afghan president to plead his case in person. 

Christine Wormuth, under secretary of defense for policy said Tuesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing that officials “are actively discussing” Ghani’s request. “I think it will very much be a topic when the president comes here later this month.” 

Smith said while the Afghan forces have made “substantial progress” in combat operations, substantial gaps remain in their ability to support themselves. 

“We do not have to build a perfect Afghanistan,” Smith said. 

“Instead, our mission is to eliminate the remnants of al Qaeda that are hiding in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and help the Afghans build an Afghanistan that can fight the Taliban on their own and prevent al Qaeda or other international terrorists from using Afghanistan as a safe haven,” he said. 

“Our task now is to figure out how to cement the gains we’ve made and support future progress,” he said.