SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the Senate votes 62-33 to expedite troop withdrawal. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Nicolas Morales / Army)
In Response to War-Weary Nation, Senate Votes to Hasten Afghan Withdrawal
Pentagon continues to push for longer occupation
Nov 30, 2012
The U.S. Senate has voted overwhelmingly for an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan while the Pentagon continues to ignore the desires of a war-weary nation by calling for an extension of the Obama administration's current timetable.
Thursday's bipartisan vote of 62-33 sends a clear message to the President as he and his military chiefs "engage in high-stakes talks about the pace of drawing down the 66,000 US troops there" in advance of a White House announcement expected within weeks, AP reports.
The vote was on a nonbinding amendment to a defense policy bill that endorsed the current timetable to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2014 but pressed for a quicker pace, without specifying how that would be achieved.
"It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history,'' said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the chief sponsor of the measure.
As the senators engaged in the significant albeit symbolic vote, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta continued his assertion that the U.S. needs to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 citing a still dangerous al-Qaeda presence in the country.
"The goal here is an enduring presence therefore that will direct itself toward three important missions. One is obviously counterterrorism to insure that we continue to go after whatever al-Qaida targets remain in Afghanistan," Panetta told reporters at a news conference.
Panetta would not say how many American troops he thinks will be needed to conduct that mission, nor did he mention a time period.
According to Al Jazeera, the other two post-2014 missions cited by Panetta are training Afghan security forces and providing support for the US military contingent there.
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version of the bill by the end of the week before going through negotiations with the House legislation which was passed in May.
AP reports:
The overall defense bill authorizes $631 billion for weapons, ships, aircraft and a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel. The White House threatened to veto the legislation in its current form, citing limits on the president's authority in handling detainees at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restrictions on cuts to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
The Senate also revisited last year's debate on the handling of terror suspects. According to AP, lawmakers voted 54-41 to approve an amendment that would prevent the transfer of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay to prisons in the United States.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The U.S. Senate has voted overwhelmingly for an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan while the Pentagon continues to ignore the desires of a war-weary nation by calling for an extension of the Obama administration's current timetable.
Thursday's bipartisan vote of 62-33 sends a clear message to the President as he and his military chiefs "engage in high-stakes talks about the pace of drawing down the 66,000 US troops there" in advance of a White House announcement expected within weeks, AP reports.
The vote was on a nonbinding amendment to a defense policy bill that endorsed the current timetable to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2014 but pressed for a quicker pace, without specifying how that would be achieved.
"It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history,'' said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the chief sponsor of the measure.
As the senators engaged in the significant albeit symbolic vote, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta continued his assertion that the U.S. needs to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 citing a still dangerous al-Qaeda presence in the country.
"The goal here is an enduring presence therefore that will direct itself toward three important missions. One is obviously counterterrorism to insure that we continue to go after whatever al-Qaida targets remain in Afghanistan," Panetta told reporters at a news conference.
Panetta would not say how many American troops he thinks will be needed to conduct that mission, nor did he mention a time period.
According to Al Jazeera, the other two post-2014 missions cited by Panetta are training Afghan security forces and providing support for the US military contingent there.
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version of the bill by the end of the week before going through negotiations with the House legislation which was passed in May.
AP reports:
The overall defense bill authorizes $631 billion for weapons, ships, aircraft and a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel. The White House threatened to veto the legislation in its current form, citing limits on the president's authority in handling detainees at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restrictions on cuts to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
The Senate also revisited last year's debate on the handling of terror suspects. According to AP, lawmakers voted 54-41 to approve an amendment that would prevent the transfer of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay to prisons in the United States.
The U.S. Senate has voted overwhelmingly for an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan while the Pentagon continues to ignore the desires of a war-weary nation by calling for an extension of the Obama administration's current timetable.
Thursday's bipartisan vote of 62-33 sends a clear message to the President as he and his military chiefs "engage in high-stakes talks about the pace of drawing down the 66,000 US troops there" in advance of a White House announcement expected within weeks, AP reports.
The vote was on a nonbinding amendment to a defense policy bill that endorsed the current timetable to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2014 but pressed for a quicker pace, without specifying how that would be achieved.
"It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history,'' said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the chief sponsor of the measure.
As the senators engaged in the significant albeit symbolic vote, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta continued his assertion that the U.S. needs to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 citing a still dangerous al-Qaeda presence in the country.
"The goal here is an enduring presence therefore that will direct itself toward three important missions. One is obviously counterterrorism to insure that we continue to go after whatever al-Qaida targets remain in Afghanistan," Panetta told reporters at a news conference.
Panetta would not say how many American troops he thinks will be needed to conduct that mission, nor did he mention a time period.
According to Al Jazeera, the other two post-2014 missions cited by Panetta are training Afghan security forces and providing support for the US military contingent there.
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version of the bill by the end of the week before going through negotiations with the House legislation which was passed in May.
AP reports:
The overall defense bill authorizes $631 billion for weapons, ships, aircraft and a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel. The White House threatened to veto the legislation in its current form, citing limits on the president's authority in handling detainees at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and restrictions on cuts to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
The Senate also revisited last year's debate on the handling of terror suspects. According to AP, lawmakers voted 54-41 to approve an amendment that would prevent the transfer of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay to prisons in the United States.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.