Senator Bond urges President Obama and Congress to keep faith in Afghanistan.
Bond takes to the Senate floor to tell colleagues they must focus on the military mission in Afghanistan, not the political positions being staked out in Washington.
"Let’s ignore the politics of the moment and finish the job in Afghanistan," Bond says during his speech on the floor.
Bond, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee , urges President Obama to stick to the commitment he outlined in March when the president proclaimed his commitment to winning in Afghanistan.
"Amid the reports of wavering and hand-wringing an important question comes into mind, ‘What’s changed?’" Bond says, "During the campaign and after his inauguration the president has spoken repeatedly about the importance of winning the war in Afghanistan."
Bond says he is disturbed by news reports indicating the president will not comply with General Stanley McChrystal’s request for more troops in Afghanistan. Bond suggests that McChrystal be summoned to Washington to speak directly to Congress about what he believes the military needs to win in Afghanistan.
Bond says this is no time to waver.
"Let’s not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Afghanistan just because a few pundits are peddling political pessimism in Washington," Bond says.
Bond expresses concern about the president’s most recent remarks reported in the news media, saying it seems to indicate the Obama Administration is inclined to reject the counter-insurgency strategy recommended by McChrystal and backed by other military brass. One report indicates the Defense Secretary Gates will delay sending McChrystal’s troop request to the White House, because the president isn’t ready to consider it. All the experts, says Bond, agree that the military effort in Afghanistan needs proper resources, including additional troops, to mount a proper counter-insurgency strategy.
Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:15 MP3)
