Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, and Amb. Karl Eikenberry both expressed full support for President Obama’s new strategy in the Afghanistan War today during hearings before the House Armed Services Committee.
“I can say without equivocation that I fully support this approach,” Eikenberry said.
“I fully support the president’s decision,” McChrystal told the committee. “I’m confident we have the right strategy and the right resources.”
Asked about the July 2011 date to begin withdrawal, McChyrstal said it’s not a “major factor” in his military strategy.
“I don’t believe the July 2011 time frame, militarily, is a major factor in my strategy,” he said.
McChrystal said he did not make any recommendations on a withdrawal date or timeline.
“There are people who will grab onto that, I think inappropriately, and they will try to use it in information operations and describe it as something that it is not, in terms of a lack of commitment on the part of the U.S. and the coalition. Because we’ve committed to a long-term partnership but I think we can deal with that,” he said.
The deadline “provides a forcing function and impetus for moving forward, for the Afghans and others, to continue to make progress toward their own capacity,” he said.
