WASHINGTON - January 23 - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is cosponsoring an effort to strengthen the United States’ military and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The resolution, introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), also calls on the President to not redeploy any U.S. troops from Afghanistan to Iraq. In late 2006, Feingold, a fourteen-year member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a similar measure calling for strengthening our efforts in Afghanistan to defeat a resurgent Taliban.

“While the Administration moves forward with its escalation plans for Iraq, it has failed to address deteriorating security conditions in Afghanistan.” Feingold said. “We should not be reducing our forces in Afghanistan. Instead, we should be strengthening our efforts to defeat a resurgent Taliban – the same movement that harbored and supported the terrorist elements that attacked our country on 9/11.”

The resolution also calls for the U.S. to work with international partners and the government of Afghanistan to supply the necessary resources to eradicate the Taliban and terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. Feingold’s 2006 resolution was introduced after calls from General James Jones, NATO commander and Commander of European Command, for more troops for Afghanistan and more sustained support from the international community.

“When Afghanistan becomes a second priority or, as a senior military officer recently put it, an “economy of force” operation, it offers a sobering example of this Administration’s misguided approach to the global fight against terrorist networks,” Feingold said. “Because of the Administration’s Iraq-centric foreign policies, we have neglected situations around the world with a direct impact on our national security, in Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries.”

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