Graham could offer resolution on slowing Afghan drawdown

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he is willing to introduce a resolution that would gives lawmakers the chance to back President Obama’s decision to delay the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

“If he needs a resolution, if the administration would want a resolution of support for that, I’d gladly do it,” Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Tuesday.

{mosads}“I just made an offer: if you want bipartisan cover, you got it,” he added. “If they need our help, they got it. Because I think the president is doing a very responsible thing.”

Graham first floated the idea of a resolution on Monday during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. 

“I’d like to be on record saying, ‘President Obama, if you leave troops behind in Afghanistan, you’ve done the right thing, not the wrong thing, and give you cover,’” he said.

Obama on Tuesday announced that he would keep around 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan through 2015, roughly double the number he initially planned.

The president said he remains committed to reducing the U.S. troop presence to a small number based in the capital city of Kabul by the end of 2016.

“We agreed to continue to keep in place our close security cooperation,” he said at a news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. “Afghanistan remains a very dangerous place.”

The pace of troop reductions in 2016 will be determined later this year, according to the White House. 

Graham, who is considering a run for the White House next year, said Obama was “wise” to delay the withdrawal.

He said he had contacted Vice President Biden to let him know that “I thought that was a good decision. I think having a conditions-based withdrawal is the right way to go.” 

“Just keep listening to your commanders,” Graham advised, a reference to Gen. John Campbell, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who has argued for slowing the troop withdrawal.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter also suggested during a congressional hearing earlier this month that the administration could pump the brakes on the drawdown.