Council for a Livable World Welcomes Senate Vote In Favor of An Accelerated Withdrawal of U.S.Troops from Afghanistan

Washington, D.C. .. Council for a Livable World applauded the Senate vote today in favor of the Merkley amendment asking the President to accelerate the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

The Senate approved the amendment by a voice vote in a surprising rebuke to those who want to stay in Afghanistan indefinitely – including Senator John McCain (R-AZ).

Clearly Senator McCain, who opposed the amendment, did not call for a roll call vote because he was not sure he could win.

John Isaacs, Executive Director of Council for a Livable World, said: “There is a rising tide in United States Senate and around the country to end U.S. combat in Afghanistan.”

On May 27, 2010, only 18 Senators supported a Feingold (D-WI) amendment to require a plan for the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.

On June 15, 27 Senators signed a letter circulated by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tom Udall (D-NM) urging President Obama to order a “sizable and sustained” withdrawal of troops.

Shortly afterwards, the President announced the withdrawal of 33,000 troops from Afghanistan, but said it would be three more years – the end of 2014 – before all combat troops came home. .

Today, a Senate majority by voice vote has said it is time to speed up the withdrawal timetable.

Isaacs continued, “All U.S. troops are coming out of Iraq by the end of 2011; it is time to bring our military forces out of Afghanistan as quickly and safely as possible.”

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General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, ret.), Lt. General Robert Gard (USA, ret.), and Brigadier General John H. Johns (USA, ret.) signed on to a letter calling for support of Senator Udall’s amendment on detainees with 23 other Generals and Admirals. See the l…

Merkley Amendment on Afghanistan to the National Defense Authorization Act

The following Senators signed onto at least one version of the amendment as of Nov. 30
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
——————————
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (D-VT)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

When Sen. Merkley offered the amendment on November 30, he moved new language, amendment No. 1257, as follows:

On page 484, strike line 22 through 24 and insert the following:

(c) TRANSITION PLAN.—The President shall devise a plan based on inputs from military commanders, NATO and Coalition allies, the diplomatic missions in the region, and appropriate members of the Cabinet, along with the consultation of Congress, for expediting the drawdown of United States combat troops in Afghanistan and accelerating the transfer of security authority to Afghan authorities.

(d) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The President shall include the most current set of benchmarks established pursuant to subsection (b) and the plan pursuant to subsection (c) with each report on progress

The previous language:

SEC. 1230. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON TRANSITION OF MILITARY AND SECURITY OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings:

(1) After al Qaeda attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, the United States Government rightly sought to bring to justice those who attacked us, to eliminate al Qaeda’s safe havens and training camps in Afghanistan, and to remove the terrorist-allied Taliban government.

(2) Members of the Armed Forces, intelligence personnel, and diplomatic corps have skillfully achieved these objectives, culminating in the death of Osama bin Laden.

(3) Operation Enduring Freedom is now the longest military operation in United States history.

(4) United States national security experts, including Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, have noted that al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan has been greatly diminished.

(5) Over the past ten years, the mission of the United States has evolved to include a prolonged na1tion-building effort in Afghanistan, including the  creation of a strong central government, a national police force and army, and effective civic institutions.

(6) Such nation-building efforts in Afghanistan are undermined by corruption, high illiteracy, and a historic aversion to a strong central government in
 that country.

(7) Members of the Armed Forces have served in Afghanistan valiantly and with honor, and many have sacrificed their lives and health in service to
their country.

(8) The United States is now spending nearly $10,000,000,000 per month in Afghanistan at a time when, in the United States, there is high unemployment, a flood of foreclosures, a record deficit, and a debt that is over $15,000,000,000,000 and growing.

(9) The continued concentration of United States and NATO military forces in one region, when terrorist forces are located in many parts of the world, is not an efficient use of resources.

(10) The battle against terrorism is best served by using United States troops and resources in a counterterrorism strategy against terrorist forces wherever they may locate and train.

(11) The United States Government will continue to support the development of Afghanistan with a strong diplomatic and counterterrorism presence in the region.

(12) President Barack Obama is to be commended for announcing in July 2011 that the United States would commence the redeployment of members of the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan in 2011 and transition security control to the Government of Afghanistan.

(13) President Obama has established a goal of removing all United States combat troops from Afghanistan by December 2014.

(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) the President should expedite the transition of the responsibility for military and security operations in Afghanistan to the Government of Afghanistan;

(2) the President should devise a plan based on inputs from military commanders, the diplomatic missions in the region, and appropriate members of the Cabinet, along with the consultation of Congress, for expediting the drawdown of United States combat troops in Afghanistan and accelerating the transfer of security authority to Afghan authorities prior to December 2014; and

(3) not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President should submit to Congress a plan with a timetable and completion date for the accelerated transition of all military and security operations in Afghanistan to the Government of Afghanistan.

IRAN
Iran Nuclear Sabotage Suspected After Reports of Blasts at Atomic Centers
Ladane Nasseri, Bloomberg – November 29, 2011
Reports of a blast in the province of Isfahan, home to one of Iran’s atomic facilities, adds to a series of unexplained incidents that have raised suspicions of sabotage against the country’s nuclear program.

Analysis: For Iran, the sanctions price may be worth paying
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters – November 29, 2011
Iran regards its nuclear programme as a source of power and prestige and tougher sanctions look unlikely to alter Tehran’s cost-benefit analysis much despite the economic pain they cause.

The Real Lesson of Iraq
Malrid Braut-Hegghammer, NYT (Op-Ed) – November 28, 2011
Parallels between Iraq’s former nuclear weapons program and the Iranian nuclear program have shaped policy debates for nearly a decade. We are still paying the costs of failing in Iraq. Israel now seems determined to make similar mistakes in Iran.

NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
Blix: NK Not a Topic at Seoul Nuclear Summit
Evan Ramstad, WSJ – November 29, 2011
Hans Blix, the Swedish lawyer and nuclear specialist who led the International Atomic Energy Agency in the 1990s and the U.N. nuclear verification commission a decade ago, was in Seoul Tuesday to meet President Lee Myung-bak and help define the agenda for the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted in Seoul in March.

Myanmar Sought Nuke Aid From North Korea, Lugar Asserts
Global Security Newswire – November 28, 2011
A prominent U.S. senator said there is reason to believe Myanmar sought to work with North Korea in recent years to build nuclear weapons, the Washington Post reported on Thursday

ISRAEL
Israel retaliates following rocket attack from within Lebanon
Edmund Sanders, LA Times – November 29, 2011
Recent calm along the Israel-Lebanon border broke early Tuesday after unknown assailants in southern Lebanon fired four rockets into northern Israel, the first such attack since 2009. Israel immediately retaliated with a volley of artillery strikes targeting the source of the rocket fire, near the Lebanese village of Eid Tashaad.

PAKISTAN
Pakistan to boycott meeting over deadly NATO raid
Asif Shahzad, AP – November 29, 2011
Pakistan pulled out of an upcoming meeting in Germany on the future of Afghanistan to protest the deadly attack by U.S.-led forces on its troops, widening the fallout on Tuesday from an incident that has sent ties between Washington and Islamabad into a tailspin.

Former FM Says Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Vulnerable
Global Security Newswire – November 28, 2011
Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned that the nation’s nuclear arsenal cannot be considered secured under the current government, the Press Trust of India reported on Monday

Should we allow Nato free range to attack and kill people?
Pratap Chatterjee, The Guardian – November 29, 2011
The airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers is just the latest in a series of mistakes that raise doubts about Nato’s credibility

RUSSIA
Russia activates missile warning system near EU
Stuart Williams, AFP – November 29, 2011
Russia on Tuesday activated a radar warning system against incoming missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad on the borders of the EU, in response to Western plans for a US missile shield in Europe

The U.S.-Russian Reset in Recess
Dmitri Trenin, NYT (Op-Ed) – November 29, 2011
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s warning last week of measures Russia will take if the United States and NATO continue with their missile-defense program in Europe, while sounding tough, is not the end of the U.S.-Russian reset. It is more of a pre-election recess of Russian-American diplomacy.