Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) said on This Week today that President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy “doesn’t make any sense to me” and “defies common sense.”
Why would we build up 100,000 or more troops in parts of Afghanistan included that are not even near the border? You know, this buildup is in Helmand Province. That’s not next door to Waziristan. So I’m wondering, what exactly is this strategy, given the fact that we have seen that there is a minimal presence of Al Qaida in Afghanistan, but a significant presence in Pakistan? It just defies common sense that a huge boots on the ground presence in a place where these people are not is the right strategy. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
Here’s the video.
If anything, Feingold said, the escalation of the Afghanistan war will further embolden the Taliban and push the Afghan population to embrace America’s enemies.
“This boots-on-the-ground approach alienates the Afghan population and specifically encourages the Taliban to further coalesce with Al Qaida, which is the complete opposite of our national security interest,” Feingold said.
