A Nebraskan's View

Monday, December 7, 2009 A REVISED MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

by Senator Ben Nelson

Like many of my fellow Nebraskans I watched President Obama deliver his West Point speech announcing a troop buildup in Afghanistan and I generally support the revised mission as it was outlined.

The President maintained the goal he outlined in March which is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda. To achieve this goal, the President listed his main points:

Three Main Points

1. Deployment of 30,000 more U.S. troops in an effort to break the Taliban’s momentum, while simultaneously building the Afghan Army and Security Forces.
2. A civilian surge to work with the Afghanistan ministry, government, and local leaders.
3. Partner with Pakistan to eliminate terrorist safe havens in that country.

The president set an aggressive 18-month plan for our forces to train and then turn over the lead security role to Afghan National Security Forces. American troops will begin to draw down by July 2011. But the scope of drawdown will be based upon conditions, which, in my opinion, is essential.

It is important to note the new strategy has the strong support of key U.S. military leaders.

Performance Based As the President said during his speech, “This effort must be based on performance. The days of providing a blank check are over” and I agree.

In order to measure Afghanistan’s political and military progress my hope is that a series of benchmarks will be included.

For months I’ve called for establishing benchmarks to measure the new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They will help the American people see where progress is being made and what challenges remain.

President Committed to Benchmarks The Administration committed to benchmarks in February and again in the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week on the Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy.

During that hearing I asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the continued commitment to measure our progress with benchmarks. I was encouraged that they both said that benchmarks were being developed and changed to match the new strategy. I will continue to be adamant about reviewing and tracking these benchmarks. A stable security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan – one that is sustainable by their governments – is vital to our national security. It is my hope that Afghanistan will take advantage of this increased attention and support to prepare for taking the lead role in the security of their country.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will pay close attention to the new strategy’s impact on our service members, how we will pay for it and what we can expect from the Afghan government.