Liberal Dems slam Obama for ‘pursuing wrong mission’ in Afghanistan

A number of liberal Democrats expressed dissatisfaction with President Obama’s plan to expedite the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. 

They said the administration’s nation-building strategy is destined to fail, and urged the president to focus taxpayer resources on tracking down terrorists and rebuilding America.

{mosads}”I respect the president a great deal, but when it comes to the war in Afghanistan, he is simply pursuing the wrong mission,” said Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.). “By the end of 2012, the president proposes to have more than twice as many troops in Afghanistan as when he first entered office. That unacceptably puts our troops at risk and forces America to borrow billions of dollars every month to pay for this war.”

In a speech to the nation Wednesday night, Obama announced plans to pull 10,000 of the roughly 100,000 U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of this year, and 20,000 more out by the summer of 2012. The U.S. would transfer full control of the security operations to Afghan authorities in 2014, Obama said.

“America, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home,” he said.

{mosads}Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) applauded elements of Obama’s speech, such as the calls to redirect taxpayer resources to domestic problems. But on “the central question” — whether to build a nation or shift the focus to counterterrorism — Obama chose the former, Welch said.

“That’s the wrong decision,” Welch argued.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) noted that Afghanistan hasn’t been united under a centralized government since Alexander the Great. Obama’s efforts to do so now will surely fail, he predicted.

“The whole premise of this war is wrong,” Nadler said.

The Democrats said they’ll try to shift the president’s hand through the appropriations process. The House is expected to take up the Defense Department’s appropriations bill after the July 4 recess.