Testifying today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there will be a thorough review of President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy one year from now.
Gates said the review, to be performed in December 2010, will allow the military to evaluate whether the strategy is working and, if necessary, form a new strategy.
Gates was responding to questioning by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who criticized setting a date — July 2011 — for beginning a drawdown of U.S. troops.
“If it appears the strategy is not working, and we will not be able to transition [to Afghan security forces] by 2011, we will take a hard look at the strategy itself,” Gates said.
He also said the pace of the withdrawal will depend on conditions on the ground.
McCain contended that setting a date for withdrawal, and withdrawing depending on conditions on the ground, are mutual exclusive ideas.
Gates said later in the hearing that they chose July 2011 because it will be two years since Marines entered the Helmand province. In July of this year, 12,000 U.S. troops swarmed the province, a Taliban stronghold that had been under the purview of British troops. And in the first wave of Obama’s 30,000 additional troops, 9,000 soldiers will be deployed to Helmand.
